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Letters of Cortes

The Five Letters of Relation from Fernando
Cortes to the Emperor Charles V.

Translated, and Edited, with a Biographical Introduction
and Notes Compiled from Original Sources

By

Francis Augustus MacNutt

In Two Volumes
Volume One

G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York and London
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Copyright, 1908

BY

FRANCIS AUGUSTUS MacNUTT

Xlbe l^niclierbocher press, Dew TDotlt

PREFACE

THE narrative contained in the Letters of Fernando
Cortes is the first description ever written of the
most highly developed civilisation on the conti-
nent of North America at the date of its discovery. Astro-
nomical science has brought the existence of planets within
common knowledge, and our imagination is already so
familiar with the possibility of a Martian population, that
a discovery positively demonstrating such a fact would
be received as confirmatory rather than surprising. By
the discoveries of Christopher Columbus, the civilisations
of two worlds as absolutely strange to one another as
different planets were brought into sudden contact pro-
ductive of conflict and that conflict was naturally fiercest
where the alien invaders were confronted by the best
organised effort to contest their advance ; hence the period
of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, which is depicted by
Cortes in these letters to Charles V. was prolific in deeds
the most striking to the imagination of any that modern
history records. No element of drama was absent, for
the most heroic qualities, as well as the blackest passions
of the human heart, were engaged on both sides in a life-
and-death struggle, which culminated in an appalling
race-tragedy, replete with epic horror. The piratical
complexion of the Conqueror's initial movements forced
him to wrest justification from success, and this was only
made possible by the exercise of his indomitable courage,
his relentless and unscrupvdous diplomacy, and by that
strange favour, which capricious Fortune sometimes
destines as a reward for sheer audacity.

Fortunate for posterity was the anxious need of Cortes

vi Preface

to win royal approwil for his lawless courses, for from it
sprang the inspiration which pr()mi)tcd him to pen his
descriptions of the A/tec civilisation at the zenith of its
splendour and to report in detail to his sovereign the
progress of his conquest.

Although historians have from the beginning recognised
the superlative value of these letters and several editions
of them are accessible to students familiar with the Spanish
language, it has been left to my modest labours to provide
an English translation of the complete series of Relacioties,
The translation of sixteenth century Spanish into read-
able, modem English is not devoid of difficulty, though
greater demands are made on the translator's patience
and ingenuity than on his erudition.

Cortes wTote with soldier-like terseness, but his powers
of observation were acute and accurate ; hence his descrip-
tions are both lucid and striking. His vocabulary was
very limited, and as he was unfamiliar with the classical
and scholastic styles of composition then in vogue amongst
men of letters, his plain tale is ungamished with the
digressions into philosophy and theology and the lengthy
citations from scripture and the classics, which abound in
the more polished writings of his times. I suspect, more-
over, that he had in mind to capture the fancy of the
royal youth to w^hom he wTote, and, in days when novels
were not, and court life must have weighed on a monarch
of seventeen, still too young to be engrossed either in the
delusive pleasures of private dissipation or in the ab-
sorbing intrigues of public ambition, many of his pages
may have furnished the youthful sovereign with diverting
reading in his leisure hours

I have aimed rather to preserve accuracy and the
characteristics of Cortes 's original style than to produce
a more finished piece of English literature, by excessive
rearrangement and the employment of a richer vocabulary
than he commanded.

Preface vii

The subjects touched upon in the Letters are so Httle
known to the general reader (though they constantly
engage the attention of able specialists) that I have
supplied notes to accompany the text, which are intended
to explain and complete the narrative of Cortes. These
notes deal with various and very large subjects, on some
of which historical authorities are not in agreement, while
on many others of the greatest interest and importance
the last word has not yet been spoken. The statements
I have made and the opinions I have expressed on these
debatable questions are based upon the results of my
researches in the works cited in the Bibliographical Note
preceding the Letters: their scope is explanatory and
complementary — not controversial.

The portrait of Cortes which appears as a frontispiece
is after the alleged Titian, now in the possession of the
Duque de Plasencia.

The portrait of Charles V. represents that monarch in
his early youth, at the time when Cortes first began his
correspondence; it is reproduced from a print in the
British Museum.

The plan of the City of Mexico is taken from the His-
toria Antigua of Sefior Manuel Orozco y Berra and the
several maps are from the editions in which they originally
appeared of the Storia Antica del Messico of Clavigero,
1780, Lorenzana's Historia de Nueva Espana, 1770, and
of C. St. John Fancourt's History of Yucatan from its
Discovery to the Close of the Seventeenth Century.

Since the days when those illustrious pioneers in this
particular field of historical research, Washington Irving
and William H. Prescott laboured with results that have
won them enduring fame, the classification of the vast
and scattered archives of Spain has gone steadily forward,
with the result that the worker of to-day finds a mass of
valuable material easily accessible that had formerly to
be sought at great cost of time, labour, and expense in the

viii Preface

collections of state papers and correspondence which were
not infrequently in a condition of disheartening and baf-
fling confusion. The collections of inedited documents
published by Rivadeneira under the title of Biblioteca de
Autares Espanolcs, that of Navarrete published in Madrid
in 1842, the Biblioteca Occidental oi Barcia, the voluminous
French translations of Temaux-Compans, and finally the
indefatigable labours of Senor Garcia Icazbalceta and
Don Pascual Gayangos have cleared the modem student's
path of formidable difficulties.

Although I am the fortunate possessor of a number of
these valuable collections, I have likewise had to make
researches in libraries and collections, both public and
private, in Mexico, Spain, Italy, and England, in the
course of which I have met with courteous and helpful
encouragement from many to whom my sense of obliga-
tion is profound; but primarily I owe the pleasure and
interest which the preparation of this work has afforded
me to the late Abb6 Augustin Fischer, sometime chaplain
to the ill-fated Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, under
whose cultured guidance it was my privilege to begin
my studies in Spanish-American history. The death of
my delightful and accomplished mentor, after a life of
great vicissitudes, deprives me of one of the chief satis-
factions which the publication of this work would other-
wise have afforded me, but it does not lessen my obligation
to pay a tribute of grateful thanks to his memory.

Francis A. MacNutt.

Palazzo Pamphilj,
Rome, October, 1907.

CONTENTS

Biographical Note:

early days ......

colonial life in cuba ....

the conqueror .....

marques del valle .....
Last Will and Testament of Fernando Cortes
Bibliographical Note .....
First Letter, ]vLY 10,1519
Second Letter, October 30, 1520

PAGE

3
8

25
52
77

lOI

123
185

IX

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Fernando Cortes ..... Frontispiece

From an Engraving by Ferdin Selma, after the Painting by
Titian

Cortes Coat-of-Arms , , , , On cover

Plan of Mexico — Tenochtitlan .... i88
From Conquista de Mexico, vol. iv. , by Orozco y Berra

The Wall of Tlascala ....,, 200
From Storia Antica del Messico, vol. ii., by Clavigero

XI

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

CHAPTER I

EARLY DAYS

FERNANDO CORTES, son of Martin Cortes y
Monroy and of Catalina Pizarro Altamirano, his
wife, was born in 1485 at Medellin, an unim-
portant town in Estremadura. The house in which he
first saw the Hght stood in the Calle de la Feria until it
was destroyed by the French in the campaign of 1809.
(Alaman, Dissertazioni sulla Storia del Messico; Dis-
sert. V.) Both his father's and his mother's fami-
lies were of good descent, and respected, though
poor. Martin Cortes had been a captain of fifty light
cavalry, and he is further described by the anonymous
author of De Rebus Gestis as ' ' pietate tamen et religione
toto vitcB tempore clarus,'" while to his wife the same
writer gives the highest praise, saying, " Caterina namque
probitate pudicitia et in conjugem amore nulli cetatis suae
femince cessit^ Las Casas also states that he had known
Martin Cortes in a poor and humble condition, but that
he was a Cristtano vie jo, and said to be a gentleman.
Later when the great fame of Cortes had converted him
into an ancestor of whom the most illustrious family
might be proud, ingenious genealogists sought to prove
him also the descendant of very noble, and even royal,
forefathers; but these unconvincing efforts must seem
somewhat unimportant in the case of one whose name
and place in history were won by his own achievements,
unaided by the support either of influential family or
superior fortune.

VOL. I. — I

4 Letters of Cortes

During his early childhood his health was so frail that
he was several times thought to be at death's door.
It seemed, therefore, all important to provide him with
a powerful patron saint, who was finally chosen by draw-
ing lots among the twelve apostles, the choice thus falling
upon St. Peter, to whom Cortes rendered profound de-
votion during all his life and to whose protection he
constantly attributed his victories.

When their son was fourteen years old, his parents sent
him to the University of Salamanca to prepare himself
for the practice of law, which was held in high esteem
and opened a promising career to a young man of ability.
During the two years he remained there, he lodged in the
house of his paternal aunt, Inez de Paz, who was married
to one Francisco Nufiez Valera. This brief course of
study was sufficient to prove that he was in no way fitted
for the profession his parents had chosen for him, so
in 1 50 1 he caused them the liveliest chagrin by returning
to iMedellin.

An idle year of rather disorderly life followed. The
boy's taste was for arms and adventures, and, after
hovering between the rival attractions of the Italian
campaign under Gonsalvo de Cordoba, and those of
service with Don Nicolas de Ovando, the recently ap-
pointed Governor of Hispaniola, he finally decided to
join the latter, who was preparing to sail, with an im-
portant fleet of thirty ships, fitted out at the royal ex-
pense, to take possession of his office. In this he was
urged, probably, by the consideration that the Governor
was a family friend, who might be counted upon to ad-
vance his interests. Just before sailing, however, Cortes
had the mishap of falling from a wall which he was
scaling to keep an appointment with a lady, an accident
which might have ended fatally for him but for the
intervention of an old woman who, attracted by the
noise of his fall at her very door, arrived just in time to

Early Days 5

prevent her son-in-law from running him through the
body as he lay prostrate. As it was, his bruises laid him
up until after Ovando's fleet had sailed, and, upon his
recovery, he went to Valencia with the intention of
embarking for Italy to join the forces of the great Captain.
What defeated his purpose is not recorded, but, upon his
return to Medellin about a year later, his parents con-
sented to his following Ovando and provided him with
the money for his journey. He was thus enabled to
sail from San Lucar de Barameda in 1504 on the trading
vessel of one Alonzo Quintero of Palos, bound with four
others carrying merchandise to the Indies.

The little fleet touched first at the Canaries which was
the usual route. Alonzo Quintero was a shifty fellow,
who, twice on the voyage, sought to overreach his brother
captains by detaching himself from the fleet in the hope
of making port ahead of them and disposing of his cargo
to advantage and without their competition. Both times,
however, untoward weather overtook him, and, the second
time, his pilot, Francisco Nino, lost his bearings, and
the ship, in a bad condition, short of water and pro-
visions was like to be lost. At dawn on Good Friday a
dove was seen perching on the rigging, and, by following
the flight of the bird of good omen, land was sighted
by Cristobal Zorno on Easter Day, and four days later,
the weather-beaten craft reached port where the others of
the fleet had long since arrived and disposed of their goods.

Seekers after signs and wonders were not slow to claim
the appearance of this dove to guide Quintero 's ship
at such a critical moment as evidence of the celestial
protection and miraculous intervention of providence
in the direction of Cortes's fortunes, of which numerous
other similar examples are cited, and to which he him-
self was always ready to ascribe his success; and, in
the early chronicle, De Rebus Gestis of authoritative but
unknown authorship, it is stated that, even at the time

6 Letters of Cortes

of this occurrence, there were those present who claimed
to recognise the Holy Ghost in the white- winged pilot
sent to rescue the hapless ship. — "Alius, Sanctum esse
Spiritiim, qui in illius alitis specie, ut mcestos et afflictos
soLarctiir, venire erat dignatusy

The Governor being absent, his secretary, Medina, who
already knew Cortes, met him upon his landing, and gave
him hospitality in his house, acquainting him with the con-
dition of things in the island, and ad\4sing him to settle
near the town. To this Cortes is said to have replied
that he had come to seek gold rather than to till the
ground. During the war against Queen Anacoana of
Hayti, which followed close upon his arrival, the horrors
of which have been described first by Las Casas and later
by Washington Ir\4ng, Cortes gave a very good account of
himself, and upon the establishment of peace he received
a grant of good land and a repariimiento of Indians at
Daiguao where he was likewise appointed notary of the
newly founded town of Azua. (Gomara, Cronica. Cap.
Ill ■,Dc Rebus Gestis) . During the five or six ensuing years,
his life was that of a planter, and was barren of any salient
event, though Bemal Diaz says that he was involved
in several affairs about women which led to quarrels
and duels, in one of which he was wounded in the lip.
He was prevented by an opportune illness from joining the
luckless expedition of Alonso de Ojedo and Diego de
Nicuesa to Darien. Don Nicolas de Ovando was succeeded
in the office of Governor by Don Diego Columbus, who
in 151 1 fitted out an expedition for the conquest of Cuba,
which he placed under the command of Don Diego Velas-
quez, and in which Cortes volunteered.

His conduct at this time advanced his interests in every
respect, for his genial character and lively conversation
soon made him a favourite with his companions in arms,
while his bravery and address acquired him the best
reputation as a soldier and attracted the attention of his

Early Days 7

commander. This conquest afforded indeed but scanty
opportunity either to the commander or the soldiers of
the invading force to display their prowess, for the pacific
natives were hunted through the island like timorous
hares to yield after the feeblest resistance only. Thus
they were brought into subjection with the barest sem-
blance of serious military operations. Yet such mild
warfare and the equally nerveless conflicts in the island
of Hispaniola (San Domingo) supplied Cortes with the only
training in campaigning he ever received. The skill he
later displayed in military tactics, and his masterly
generalship, were due to his latent genius, which sprang
fully fledged into consciousness in response to the first
demand made upon it, furnishing him liberally with an
equipment for conquest which less gifted commanders
must wrest from experience.

He received in recognition of his services in Cuba, an
encomienda of Indians at Manicaro where he settled,
becoming a citizen of Santiago. Gomara states that he
was successful in the management of his estate, and was
the first of the colonists to introduce certain breeds of
sheep and cattle into the island. He had as his partner
at Manicaro, Juan Xuarez.

Here may be said to close the first period of the life
of Cortes, which might have been that of any spirited
young Spaniard of his class and times, fretting within
the restrictions of a provincial town, averse to the plodding
career offered him by his parents, and finally cutting loose
and winning his place in a new life in the colonies, by
force of valour in feats of arms, and his ability in man-
aging affairs.

CHAPTER II

COLONIAL LIFE IN CUBA

1NF0RJMATI0N concerning the events of the first
years of the residence of Cortes in the island of Cuba
is scanty, but it may be assumed that he attended
to his interests, which prospered, and enjoyed considerable
popularity among his fellow-colonists as well as the
favour of the Governor, Diego Velasquez, who extended
a protecting friendship to him such as an older man of
high rank might naturally feel for one of the most promis-
ing young men among his colonists. Mr. George Folsom,
in the Introduction to his English translation of the De-
spat dies of Hernando Cortes (New York, 1843), says that
Velasquez was brother-in-law to Cortes, having married
one of the Xuarez sisters. I have found no authority for
thisassertion, and, a few pages farther on, the same writer
describes Velasquez as seeking to arrange a marriage for
himself with a sister of the Bishop of Burgos. This
alleged relationship between the two through their
marriages is apocr>^phal.

As the changes which the relations between these two
men underwent, worked powerfully and far upon the
course of events in the New World, it is necessary before
going further to consider somewhat the character of
Diego Velasquez, and the causes w^hich brought about the
breach in their friendship. Oviedo states that Velasquez
was of noble family, and, though arriving in the Indies
poor, had there accumulated an ample fortune. His
military experience had been gained by seventeen years

8

Colonial Life in Cuba 9

of service in European wars. The anonymous author
of De Rebus Gestis confirms these points adding, " He
was covetous of glory and somewhat more so of money."
The latter also represents that an intimate friendship
existed during several years between the two in Hispaniola,
and that Velasquez had insisted on Cortes's joining his ex-
pedition, to which the latter counselled by friendship and
his longing for adventures, readily consented. Velasquez
had the habit of command, which as Governor of Cuba
he exercised with the scarcely restricted and arbitrary
freedom which his own temperament dictated, and the
usage amongst Spanish colonial governors sanctioned.
With all this he was amiable, accessible, and fond of
dispensing favours. Prescott estimates him as one of
those captious persons who " when things do not go ex-
actly to their taste, shift the responsibility from their
own shoulders where it should lie to those of others,"
and Herrera describes him as " ungenerous, credulous, and
suspicious ! ' ' Fray Bartolome de Las Casas, who knew him
personally in Cuba gives more place to his virtues in the
description he has left of him, than do some others ; while
admitting that he was quick to resent a liberty, jealous
of his dignity, easily taking offence, he adds that he was
not vindictive nor slow to forgive. As an administrator
of the affairs of the island he showed himself active and
capable, encouraging immigration, assisting the colonists,
and extending the zone of Spanish influence. He founded
many towns, some of which still bear the names he
gave them, notably Havana, Puerto del Principe, Mat-
anzas, Trinidad, and Santiago where he had his seat of
government. It appears therefore that Diego Velasquez
was a man whose rather petty defects of character did not
usually interfere with his public conduct and who dis-
charged his official duties satisfactorily to the colonists
and as a faithful representative of the crown. He was,
however, unquestionably avaricious, egotistical, and

lo Letters of Cortes

ambitious; withal no easy master to serve. Commenting
on the reproaches he afterwards heaped upon Cortes for
his ingratitude towards him, Ovicdo says that it was
no whit worse than his own had been towards his bene-
factor, Diego Columbus, and hence it was "measure for
measure." His desire to explore and conquer by deputy,
and to win distinction vicariously, was defeated by the
impossibility of finding men possessed of the required
ability to undertake successfully such ventures, combined
with sufficient docility to surrender to him the glory and
profits resulting from them.

The two fundamental versions of the historic quarrel be-
tween Cortes and Velasquez are contradictory. One is
furnished by Gomara, the other by Las Casas, and, upon
one or the other, later historians have based their accounts.
The version ot Las Casas is that of an eye-witness, for he
was present in Cuba at the time, and knew both men well.
He stood high in the favour of the Governor, but, even
allowing something for the bias of personal friendship
and possibly something more for the influence of Velas-
quez's position, his acknowledged integrity excludes the
possibility of a conscious mis-statement of facts, and
hence the greatest weight attaches to his testimony.
Gomara, on the other hand, was never in Cuba in his life
and only began his Cronica de la Conquista some twenty-
five years or more after the events of which he wrote, under
the inspiration and direction of Cortes, then Marques
del Valle, whose chaplain he had shortly before become.

Gomara's chronicle was somewhat of the nature of an
apologia, and it no sooner appeared than its accuracy
and veracity were impugned by participants in the events
he described; notably by Bernal Diaz del Castillo, whose
work was undertaken for the declared purpose of correct-
ing Gomara, and was called with emphasis the "True
History" of the conquest. Gomara's account is briefly
as follows: Cortes at that time paid court to Catalina

Colonial Life in Cuba ii

Xuarez la Marcaida, one of the poor but beautiful sisters
of his partner in Manicaro, Juan Xuarez, and won such
favours from the lady as entitled her to exact the ful-
filment of a promise of marriage which she declared he had
made her, but with which he refused to comply. The
Xuarez family was from Granada and came originally in
the suite of Dona Maria de Toledo, wife of the Viceroy
Don Diego Columbus to] Hispaniola, where it was hoped
the four girls whose only dowry was their beauty might
make good marriages among the rich planters. This
hope was not realised in San Domingo and they removed
to Cuba. Catalina, the eldest, was the most beautiful
of all and had many admirers, amongst whom her pre-
ference fell upon Cortes, who was ever ready for gallant
adventures. The matter was brought before the Governor
who summoned Cortes ad audiendum verbum, influenced
in Catalina' s favour it was said, by one of her sisters to
whose charms he himself was not indifferent. But, in
spite of official pressure, Cortes refused to make the
reparation exacted of him. Such high words followed that
the Governor ordered him to be imprisoned in the fortress
under the charge of the alcalde Cristobal de Lagos. His
imprisonment was brief , for he managed to escape, carrying
off the sword and buckler of his gaoler, and took sanctuary
in a church, from which neither the promises nor the
threats of Velasquez could beguile him. One day, how-
ever, when he unwarily showed himself before the church
door, the alguacil Juan Escudero seized him from behind,
and, aided by others, carried him on board a ship ly-
ing in the harbour. Cortes feared this foreshadowed
transportation, and, setting his wits to work, he contrived
to escape a second time, dressed in the clothes of a servant
who attended him. He let himself down into a small skiff
and pulled for the shore, but the strength of the current
at that point, where the waters of the Macaguanigua River
flow into the sea, was such that his frail craft capsized,

12 Letters of Cortes

and he reached the shore swimming, with certain valuable
papers tied in a packet on the top of his head. He then
betook himself to Juan Xuarez, from whom he procured
clothes and arms, and again took sanctuary in the church.
These repeated escapes suggest sympathetic collusion
on the part of his gaolers.

Velasquez professed to be won over by such bravery
and resource, and sent mutual friends to make peace.
But Cortes, although he married Catalina, refused the
Governor's overtures and would not even speak to him,
until, some Indian troubles breaking out, and Velasquez
being at his headquarters outside the town, he somewhat
alarmed the Governor by suddenly appearing before him
late one night, fully armed, saying that he had come to
make peace and to offer his sen-ices. They shook hands
and spent a long time in conversation together, and slept
that night in the same bed, w'here they were found next
morning by Diego de Orellana who came to announce
to the Governor that Cortes had fled from the church.
This version is accepted by the author of De Rebtis Gestis
without reservation; Solis, while omitting the details,
also dwells upon the intimate friendship existing betw^een
the two men.

Las Casas tells a different tale, in which no mention is
made of the refusal to marry Catalina Xuarez as having
any part in the quarrel, but asserts rather that Cortes
was secretary to Velasquez, and that the new^s of the
arrival of certain appellate judges in Hispaniola having
reached Cuba, all the malcontents in the colony, and
those disaffected towards Velasquez, began secretly to
collect material on which to base accusations against him,
and that Cortes, acting with them, had been chosen to
carry this information to the judges. The Governor was
informed of the plot, and arrested Cortes in the act of em-
barking, with the incriminating papers in his possession,
and would have ordered him to be hanged on the spot but

Colonial Life in Cuba 13

for the intervention of his friends who pleaded for him.
A memorial presented to the King on behalf of Velasquez
by his chaplain Benito Martinez enumerates this,
amongst other grievances of the Governor, and
fully confirms the statement of Las Casas on this point.
Las Casas admits the story of the imprisonment, the es-
cape, and the sanctuary in the church, but he scouts the
idea of any such reconciliation as Gomara describes, and
says that the Governor, although he pardoned him, would
not have him back as secretary, adding, " I saw Cortes
in those days so small and humble that he would have
craved the notice of the meanest servant of Velasquez."

Las Casas reminds his readers that Gomara wrote of
things about which he knew only what Cortes and his
adherents told him, and at a time when Cortes, who had
risen from small beginnings to great rank and fame, was
anxious to have his former humble condition forgotten.
It should be borne in mind that Las Casas never ceased to
regard Cortes as other than an exceptionally bold and
lucky adventurer, nor did he ever miss an opportunity
of recalling his humble origin and irregular beginnings.
The wrath of Velasquez was short lived, for he afterwards
made Cortes, alcalde, and stood godfather to one of
his children. During the succeeding years the fortunes of
Cortes improved, and he amassed a capital of some three
thousand castellanos, of which Las Casas remarks
" God will have kept a better account than I of the lives
it cost." Though married reluctantly, he seems to have
been contented, and he described himself to the bishop
as just as happy with Catalina as though she were the
daughter of a duchess (Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias,
lib. iii, cap. xxvii.).

Don jManuel Orozco y Berra unhesitatingly accepts the
version of Las Casas, and Prescott inclines also to the
opinion that Gomara' s account is improbable. Indeed
he seeks to prove too much, and his description of the

14 Letters of Cortes

Reconciliation is overcharged, for the Governor was more
than dignified — he was pompous, and something of a
martinet in his ideas of discipHne, being so tenacious of
etiquette that no one, not even the first citizens in the
colony sat uninvited in his presence. Nor had he ever
stood in relations of equal comradeship to Cortes, how-
ever friendly he may have been, hence it is not to be
imagined that he humbled himself to offer a reconciliation,
being first rebuffed by his subordinate, and afterwards,
when it suited the latter to present himself before him, that
he celebrated the resumption of friendly relations with
such demonstrations of affection and intimacy as Gomara
describes. If the Gomara version is the true one, and the
quarrel had no other origin than the hot words exchanged
concerning Cortes's conduct in a private affair which,
strictly speaking, was no concern of the Governor's,
Velasquez might easily have forgiven and forgotten, es-
pecially as the lady's honour was saved, if but tardily.
But if the statement of Las Casas is correct, and the
Governor discovered his secretary in the act of plotting
with his enemies for his overthrow, then Diego Velasquez
must be considered to have been the most fatuous and
frivolous of men. ^Magnanimity might prompt forgiveness
of even such treachery, and Velasquez might choose to
forget the falsity of a man whose enmity he could afford
to ignore or despise, but to afterwards confide the most
important venture of his life to such a one was a blunder,
than which it would be difficult to imagine a greater. Yet
Diego Velasquez's vast capacity for blundering enabled
him even to do this.

Gold was the magnet which drew the Spanish adven-
turers to the New World, and though it had nowhere been
found either so easily or so plentifully as they expected,
enough had been discovered to whet their appetites for
more. They lived in the midst of a world of mysterious
possibilities which might any day by a lucky discovery

Colonial Life in Cuba 15

become realities. One navigator after another sailed
the seas of unknown limits, discovered islands, landed on
strange coasts, beheld primeval forests and lofty mountain-
peaks clothed with untrodden snows, and, returning to
the settlements on the islands, they brought back more
or less accurate accounts of lands where gold and pearls
were plentiful, peopled by natives eager to exchange these
treasures for Spanish trinkets, at the same time producing
enough specimens of precious metal to vouch for the
truth of their descriptions. Rich colonists, as well as
merchants in Cadiz and Seville, were easily found to
risk funds in fitting out expeditions for the dual purpose
of exploration and trade, while numberless were the skilful
pilots, daring sailors, and bold soldiers of fortune ready
to enlist for such serv-ice. After conquering Puerto Rico,
Juan Ponce de Leon cruised among the Lucayan Islands,
and in 1512, discovered the coast which he named
Florida, where, instead of the fountain of eternal youth
he sought, he met his death; in 15 13, Balboa first beheld
the Pacific Ocean from the mountain ridge on the isthmus
of Darien ; in 1 5 1 5 Juan Diaz de Solis discovered the mouth
of the river Plate.

In 1 5 1 7 Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, a rich planter
of Cuba, organised and equipped a fleet of three vessels,
manned in part by some of the survivors of the first
colony at Darien, and of which he himself took command.
The principal object of this expedition was to capture
Indians to be sold as slaves in Cuba, and the Governor
furnished one ship on condition that he should be reim-
bursed in slaves (Bernal Diaz, Hist, de la Conquista, cap.
i.) . The first land discovered was a small island to which
the name of Las Mugeres (Women's Island) was given, be-
cause of the images of female deities which they found in
the temple there. This island lies off the extreme point
of Yucatan, and from it the Spaniards saw what seemed to
them a large and important city with many towers and

1 6 Letters of Cortes

lofty buiUlings, to which they gave the fanciful name of
Grand Cairo. They discovered the island of Cozumel, and,
in a battle with the Indians at Catoche, they captured
two natives who afterwards became Christians, baptised
under the names of Julian and Melchor, and rendered
valuable services as interpreters. Besides the coast of
Yucatan, the most interesting discovery made by this ex-
pedition was the mysterious crosses which they found the
Indians venerating at Cozumel. Francisco Hernandez de
Cordoba died a few days after his arrival in Cuba from the
wounds he had received at Catoche, and the other members
of the expedition made their way back to Santiago where
the spoils taken from the temples, the small quantity
of gold, the two strange Indians, and most of all the
marvellous tales of the men served to excite the eager
cupidity of the colonists, ever ready to believe that El-
dorado was found. The news spread throughout the
islands, and even reached Spain and Flanders, where the
young King Charles the First (the Emperor Charles V.),
then was.

Diego Velasquez promptly organised an expedition to
follow up these discoveries, and establish trading relations
with the natives, which he placed under the command
of his kinsman, Juan de Grijalba. It was composed of
four ships, the San Sebastian, La Trinidad, Santiago, and
Santa Maria. The captains under Grijalba were Francisco
de Avila, Pedro de Alvarado, and Francisco de Monteio
(Bemal Diaz, cap. viii; Oviedo, Sumario, lib. xvii., cap.
viii., Orozco y Berra, Conquista de Mexico, vol. iv., cap. i).
This fleet set sail on May i, 1518, and after a fair voyage
reached the island of Cozumel on May 3rd {Itinerario de
larmata del Re Cattolico apud Icazhalceta, Documentos
Ineditos, vol, i.).

Grijalba \dsited several points along the coast, giving
Spanish names to various bays, islands, rivers, and towns.
The Tabasco River, of which the correct Indian name

Colonial Life in Cuba 17

seems to have been Tabzcoob, received the name of
Grijalba. On arriving at the river which they named
Banderas, because of the numerous Indians carrying
white flags whom they saw along the coast, they first
heard of the existence of Montezuma, of whom these
people were vassals, and by whom they had been ordered
to keep a look out for the possible return of the white
men, whose former visit to Cozumel had been reported
to the Emperor. On the 1 7th of June, a landing was made
on a small island, where the Spaniards first discovered
proofs that human sacrifices and cannibalism were
practised by the natives, for they found there a blood-
stained idol, human heads, members, and whole bodies,
with the breasts cut open and the hearts gone. They
named the island Isla de los Sacrificios (Oviedo, lib. xvii.,
cap. xiv.).

From the island which they named San Juan de Ulua
(from the word Culua which they imperfectly caught
from the natives), Grijalba sent Pedro de Alvarado on
June 24th, with the San Sebastian to carry the results
of his trading operations, and an account of his discov-
eries to Diego Velasquez, and to ask for an authorisation
to colonise which had not been given in his original
instructions, but which the members of the expedition
exacted should now be granted (Las Casas, Hist, de las
Indias, lib. iii., cap. cxii.).

Diego Velasquez had meanwhile felt some impatience,
which gradually became alarm at hearing nothing from
his expedition, so he sent Cristobal de Olid with a ship
to look for it. Olid landed also at Cozumel, and took
formal possession by right, as he supposed, of discovery.
After coasting about for some time, and finding no traces
of Grijalba, and having been obliged to cut his cables
in a storm which had lost him his anchors, he returned
to Cuba to augment the uneasiness of the Governor. At
this juncture, however, Alvarado arrived with the treasure

i8 Letters of Cortes

and Grijalba's report, which threw the Governor into
an ecstasy of hope, and plunged all the colony into the
greatest excitement. Without waiting for more news,
Velasquez set about preparing another expedition, and
sent Juan de Saucedo to Hispaniola to solicit from
the Jeronymite Fathers the necessary authority for his
undertaking, whose objects it was stated were to look
for Grijalba's lost armada, which might be in danger,
to seek for Cristobal de Olid (notwithstanding he was
already safely returned), and to rescue six Spanish
captives who were said to be prisoners of a cacique
in Yucatan. On October 5th, Grijalba arrived in Cuba
with his ships, and was coldly recei\ed by the Governor,
who professed himself much disappointed at the meagre
results of the voyage, and criticised the captain severely
for not having yielded to his companions' wishes to found
a settlement on the newly discovered coast, despite his
own instructions to the contrary.

Several names w^ere under consideration for the com-
mandership of the new armada but one after another was
excluded, and the Governor's final choice fixed upon
Fernando Cortes CLas Casas, lib. iii., cap. civ.; Bernal
Diaz, cap. xix.).

This selection was attributed to the influence of Amador
de Lares, a royal official of astute character who exercised
a certain ascendency over Velasquez, and of Andres de
Duero, the Governor's private secretary, both of whom
Cortes had induced to present his name and secure his
appointment, by promises of a generous share of the
treasures to be discovered. Since both Grijalba and
Olid were safely back in Cuba, the only one of the three
reasons first advanced for this expedition w^hich remained
was the rescue of the Christian captives in Yucatan,
and, although Velasquez had severely censured Grijalba
for not establishing a colony or trading post somewhere,
he also omitted this authorisation in his instructions

Colonial Life in Cuba 19

to Cortes. These instructions are dated October 23,
15 18, and consist of thirty items of minute and tedious
directions and counsels, covering every imaginable emer-
gency. They are quoted in full in the Documentos Inedi-
tos del Archivode Indias in pages 59-79, inclusive, in the
fourth volume of Orozco y Berra. The document opens
by stating that the glory of God and the spread of the
faith being the chief objects of the undertaking, only
God-fearing and loyal men should be allowed to compose
it; swearing and blasphemy against God, the blessed
Virgin, and the saints are provided against by the severest
penalties ; the men are not to take concubines with them
nor to give scandal by communication with native women ;
nor is gambling to be permitted in any form, dice being
forbidden on board the ships. The exhaustive instructions
concerning exploration and trading contain no mention
of any authorisation to colonise, but very full powers
are granted the commander to cover unforeseen cases.

Cortes threw himself heart and soul into the new
enterprise which offered him exactly the opportunity
in search of w^hich he had come to the Indies fourteen
years before. The mutual recriminations, afterw^ards
indulged in, so obscure the facts that it is difficult to
discover exactly what share of the expense of the equip-
ment was borne by each, but of Cortes it must be said that
he staked ever3rthing he possessed or could procure on
the venture, even raising loans by mortgages on his pro-
perty. Bernal Diaz states that the amount he expended
was four thousand <io//ar5 in gold, besides supplying many
provisions. In the sworn statement of Puertocarrero made
in La Coruna, April, 1520, the witness said that Cortes
had paid two thirds of the total costs. Gomara de-
scribes Velasquez as stingy and timid, wishing to fit out
the armada with the least possible risk to himself, and
that he proposed to halve the cost.

The appointment of Cortes to such an important com-

20 Letters of Cortes

mand did not fail to arouse jealousies on the part of some,
and the increased consequence which he gave himself in his
dress, manners, and way of living served to stimulate these
sentiments, so that hardly had the work of organisation
got fairly under way, when these mischief makers adroitly
began to work on the suspicious spirit of Velasquez. A
dwarf, who played court jester in the Governor's household,
wasinspired to make oracular jokes in which thinly veiled
warnings of what was to be expected from Cortes's over-
masterful spirit, once he was free from control and in com-
mand of such an armada, were conveyed to Velasquez;
these double barbed jests did not fail of their purpose, so
that his distrust finally completely mastered his reason, and
pushed him to the incredible folly of deciding to revoke
Cortes's appointment as commander, and substitute one
Vasco Porcallo a native of Caceres. This decision he
made known to Lares and Duero, the very men through
whom Cortes had negotiated to obtain his place, and they
hastened to warn their protege of the Governor's intention.
To accept the humiliation, the public ridicule, to say
nothing of the financial ruin into which the revocation
of his appointment almost on the eve of sailing w^ould
have plunged him, w^as an alternative which never could
have been for a moment considered by Cortes, who im-
mediately took the one step essential to his salvation,
which was to hasten his preparations, and, by unflagging
efforts, to get his provisions and men on board that same
day, and stand down the bay with all his ships during
the night. He even seized the entire meat supply of the
town for which he paid with a gold chain he w^ore. The
accounts of the manner of the departure of the fleet also
conflict. It has been represented as a veritable flight,
but Bemal Diaz avers that, although he got ever3rthing
ready very quickly and hastened the date of sailing, Cortes
went with a number of others, and took formal leave of
the Governor with embraces and mutual good wishes,

Colonial Life in Cuba 21

and that after he had heard mass, Diego Velasquez came
down to the port to see the armada off. Las Casas how-
ever says that Velasquez only heard very early in
the morning (from the butcher probably), that the pre-
parations had been so rapidly pushed forward, and that
rising from bed he made haste to the port accompanied
by all the citizens in a state of great wonder and ex-
citement. As soon as the Governor appeared, Cortes
approached within a bow-shot of the shore in a boat
full of his friends, all fully armed, and, in reply to the
Governor's upbraidings and reproaches for such un-
seemly haste in his leave-taking, replied that, " some
things were better done first and thought about afterwards
and this was one of them " ; after which bit of exculpating
philosophy he returned to his ship, and the armada sailed
away. Although Gomara, in whom we hear Cortes him-
self, agrees essentially with Las Casas in thus describing
the departure, the story of the dialogue between Cortes
in the midst of a boat-load of armed friends and Velas-
quez, helpless on the quay, surrounded by excited col-
onists, savours more of fiction than of fact. The simple
and natural version of Bernal Diaz is more in consonance
with Cortes's character, and he doubtless exercised
scrupulous care to avoid provoking the testy Governor.
Aware of the intrigues against him and the uncertainty
of his position, his safety lay in pushing forward his
preparations with unostentatious haste, masking his
determination under an astute display of increased defer-
ence towards his suspicious superior. Although Cortes
had evidently secured his captains, and could count on
his crews, the moment for an act of open defiance was not
yet, nor did Velasquez, in a letter dated November 17,1519,
to the licenciate Figueroa which was to be delivered to
Charles V., allege any such, though he would hardly have
failed to make the most of each item in his arraignment
of his rebellious lieutenant. Stopping at Macaca, Trini-

22 Letters of Cortes

dad, and Havana, he forcibly seized stores at these places,
and also from ships which he stopped, sometimes paying
for them, and sometimes giving receipts and promises.
Everywhere he increased his aiTnament, and enlisted
more men.

The Governor's uneasy suspicions augmented after the
sailing of the fleet, being also aggravated by the acts of
the members of his household who were jealous of the
sudden rise in Cortes's fortunes, and possibly also honestly
distrustful of the signs of independence he had already
manifested. In the work of fretting Velasquez, a half
foolish astrologer was called in, w^ho delivered oracular
warnings, and imputed to Cortes schemes of revenge
for past wrongs, (referring to his imprisonment by the
Governor's orders), and forecasting treachery. These
representations harmonised but too well with Velasquez's
own fears, and easily prevailed upon him to try to recall
his attainted lieutenant by sending decisive orders to his
brother-in-law, Francisco Verdugo, alcalde mayor of Trini-
dad, to assume command of the fleet until Vasco Porcallo,
who had been appointed successor to Cortes should arrive.
For greater security, he repeated these instructions to
Diego de Ordaz, Francisco de j\Iorla, and others on whose
loyalty to himself the hapless Governor thought he could
count. Nobody, however, undertook to carry out the
orders to displace and imprison Cortes, whose faculty
for making friends was such that he had already won
overall those on whom Velasquez relied, especially Ordaz
and Verdugo. The very messengers who brought the
official orders to degrade and imprison him went over to
Cortes, and joined the expedition. Public sympathy was
entirely with him, for he had rallied some of the best men
in Cuba to his standard, who thus had a stake in the
success of the enterprise which depended primarily on the
ability of the commander. In Cortes they had full con-
fidence, and it suited neither their temper nor their interest

Colonial Life in Cuba 23

to see him superseded. It was Cortes himself who replied
to the Governor's letters, seeking to reassure him with
protestations of loyalty and affection, counselling him
meanwhile to silence the malicious tongues of the mischief
makers in Santiago,

The Governor was in no way tranquillised by such a com-
munication ; on the contrary, the suppression of his orders
by Verdugo enraged him beyond measure. The fleet
had meanwhile gone to Havana whither a confidential
messenger, one Garnica, was sent with fresh, and more
stringent orders to the lieutenant-governor, Pedro Barba,
who resided there, positively forbidding the fleet to sail,
and ordering the immediate imprisonment of Cortes.
Diego Velasquez was rarely happy in his choice of men
and, in this instance his "confidential" messenger not
only brought these official orders to the lieutenant-
governor, but he likewise delivered to Fray Bartolom^
Olmedo, the chaplain of the expedition, a certain letter
from another priest who was in the executive household,
warning Cortes of the sense of the Governor's orders.
Failure attended all Velasquez's efforts, for Don Pedro
Barba replied, telling him plainly that it was not in his
power to stop Cortes, who was so popular, not only with
his troops but also with the townspeople, that any attempt
to interfere with him would result in a general rising
in his favour. Bernal Diaz declares that they would
have died for him, to a man.

During these days he played, as he himself afterwards
described it to Las Casas, the " part of the gentle corsair."
Parting in this manner from the royal Governor of Cuba,
joint owner of the ships and their contents, it is obvious
that there was no turning back for Cortes ; he was hence-
forth driven forward by the knowledge that sure disgrace,
very likely death was behind him, and drawn on by the
enticing prospect of achieving such complete success
as should vindicate his lawless courses. To redeem the

24 Letters of Cortes

in-egularity of these initial proceedings, it was incumbent
on Cortes from thenceforth to hedge his every act with
the strictest legal sanctions, and we search in vain for the
slightest lapse from prescribed forms in all the succeeding
acts of his career.

CHAPTER III

THE CONQUEROR

TPIE entire fleet sailed for the island of Cozumel
on February lo, 15 19, and the first vessel to
land was the one commanded by Pedro de Alvar-
ado. Alvarado began his career by an act of disobedience
to orders, characteristic of his headstrong and cruel tem-
perament, which procured him a severe reprimand from
the comimander, who arrived two days later and found
that the Indians had all been frightened away by the
Spaniards' violence in plundering their town and taking
some of them prisoners. Cortes's policy in dealing with
the natives was forcibly declared at the very outset, for
the pilot Camacho, who had brought the vessel to land
before the others, he clapped into irons, for disobeying
his orders, and he rebuked Alvarado, explaining to him
that his measures were fatal to the success of the expedi-
tion. The Indian prisoners were not only released, but
each received gifts, and all were assured through the inter-
preters, Melchor and Julian, that they should suffer no
further harm, and that they should therefore go and call
back the others who had fled. Everything that had been
stolen from the town was restored, and the fowls and other
provisions which had been eaten were all paid for liberally.
Discipline was enforced also among the Spaniards, and
seven sailors, who were found guilty of stealing some
bacon from a soldier, were sentenced to be publicly
whipped.

The opinion that Cortes's followers formed a lawless

25

26 Letters of Cortes

band of marauders, which rioted unchecked through
Mexico, pillaging, torturing, and outraging the natives,
has been lightly formed, and too generally accepted.
These facts, however, point to a different state of things.

We read in the first letter the concise and simple
account of the change in the character of the expedition,
and of the founding of a Spanish settlement at Vera
Cruz, and that this decision originated spontaneously,
and all but unanimously, among the members of it.
Their high motives — ^the conversion of barbarians to the
true faith, and the subjection of vast and fabulously
rich kingdoms to the Spanish crown — impelled them in
these superlative interests to set aside the trivial pro-
jects of Diego Velasquez, and to impose upon Cortes
the office of His Majesty's lieutenant. They required his
acceptance of this duty by formal act of a notary public,
and under menace of reporting his disloyalty to the
emperor should he refuse to comply with the will of the
community. Thus, from the simple commander of a
few trading vessels commissioned by the Governor of
Cuba to take soundings and exchange Spanish beads for
Mexican gold, in the interest of his employer, Cortes
appears, transformed into the Spanish sovereign's lawful
representative, holding power conferred by a legally
established Spanish municipal corporation, recognising
no superior in the new world, and exercising his functions
in the royal name ; and the band of adventurers becomes
a regularly organised colony, with its administration and
its municipal officers bearing the same titles, and em-
powered to perform the same functions, as though the
scrambling settlement of Vera Cruz were stately Seville
or historic Toledo. All these creations are described as
existing subject to an expression of the sovereign's
will, and the royal sanction for all that had been done
in the interest of the crown is humbly petitioned.

In dealing with the Indians the same strict observance

The Conqueror 27

of legal form was never once relaxed. They were first
invited to renounce idolatry and embrace Christianity;
and they were "required " — just as solemnly as Cortes
was by the Vera Cruz magistrates — to acknowledge the
supremacy of the Spanish crown. A notary public
performed this function of his office as gravely as a sheriff
in our own day reads the riot act, and calls on a mob to
disperse before resorting to force. That the " require-
ment " was unintelligible to the Indians did not invalidate
the act of promulgation. The strength, also, of Cortes's
position invariably lay in the identity of his ambitions
with the interests of the crown; he was always right. By
no other conceivable policy could he have accomplished
what he did. The men whom Velasquez, in his helpless
rage, sent to supersede or overthrow him, were mere
playthings for his far-seeing statecraft and his overpower-
ing will. The story of these events appears in all its
wonderful simplicity and astounding significance, told
in Cortes's own words in these letters, which have been
compared with the Commentaries of Caesar on his
campaigns in Gaul, without suffering by the comparison.
Gaul, when overrun and conquered by Julius Caesar,
possessed no such political organisation as did the Aztec
Empire when it was subdued by Cortes. There were
neither cities comparable with Tlascala and Cholula, nor
was there any central military organisation corresponding
to the triple alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, andTlaco-
pan, with their vast dependencies, from which countless
hordes of warriors were drawn. On the other hand
while Caesar led the flower of the Roman legions, Cortes
captained a mixed band of a few hundred men, ill-trained,
undisciplined, indifferent to schemes of conquest, and bent
only on their own individual aggrandisement; of whom
many were also disaffected towards the commanders,
and required alternate cajoling and threats to hold them
in hand. The very men who were sent under Narvaez

28 Letters of Cortes

to take him alive or dead, and bring him back to the
vengeance of Diego Velasquez, were won over to his stand-
ard, and fought under his leadership until Mexico fell,
while their rightful commander lay a prisoner at Vera
Cniz. Tapia was stripped of his goods and bundled
ignominiously back to Cuba with their price in his pock-
ets, and Cortes's delusive arguments in his ears, and,
when Francisco de Garay's mission arrived by a fortuitous
coincidence, simultaneously with the long delayed royal
commission which recognised Cortes as Captain-General
of the New Spain, his men also enthusiastically deserted
in a body to Cortes, leaving Garay to humble himself
before the man he had come to supplant, and to remain as
his guest until death suddenly brought his career to an
end.

Nothing more disastrous for Spain or for Mexico could
be imagined than the success of any one of these ignorant
and incompetent men. The mission of Cristobal de
Tapia and its inglorious failure illustrate the deplorable
conflict of authorities which rendered the Spanish colonial
administration of that time almost farcical. The con-
fusion and uncertainty prevailing in the direction of
colonial affairs left many loopholes of escape for all who
wished to disregard unpalatable orders. The President
of the Royal Council for the Indies, who was in reality
the highest authority, might order one thing, but the
Jeronymite Fathers, who were supported by the audiencia
in Hispaniola, and who exercised vague but supreme
power in the Islands, would oppose or suspend the exe-
cution of his commands. There was also the Viceroy
with his immense pretensions to be considered, and the
Governors of Cuba and Jamaica, who were jealous of any
trespass on their prerogatives, while over all^there was the
Sovereign, from whom cedulas or decrees could be ob-
tained granting jurisdiction which contradicted the exer-
cise of authority already established, or annulled all other

The Conqueror 29

orders. As Cristobal de Tapia brought no letters from
the Emperor, but only from the President of the
Council, the lieutenant at Vera Cruz, while receiving
him with respect, and protesting every intention to ob-
serve his commands, declared that his credentials must
first be submitted to the Municipal Council. That rather
vagrant body was composed chiefly of captains, who were
either in Mexico with Cortes, or off exectiting his orders
in various places, and it was not an easy thing to unite
them promptly. Cortes claimed to hold his authority
from that Council, which he had himself created, and which
in its turn recognised no superior short of the Emperor.
Treating with Tapia through Fray Pedro ]\Ielgarejo de
Urea, and members of the Council, it was quickly dis-
covered that he was accessible to golden arguments, so
he was loaded with gifts, and, after selling his negro slaves,
horses, arms, etc., at a good price, he consented to return
to Hispaniola. Here he was sharply censured by the
audiencia and the Jeronymites, who had originally for-
bidden him to land in Mexico, or interfere in any way with
the conquests of Cortes.

The foundations of a liberal and independent colonial
administration already existed in Mexico, on which a
stable system of government might have been built up,
but unfortunately these principles, which were better
known to Spaniards in that century than to any other
continental people, were in their decadence. Under
Charles V., began the disintegration of the people's
liberties, which affected likewise the government of all
the dependencies, and the system of rule by Viceroys
and a horde of rapacious bureaucrats was initiated,
which lasted in Latin-America until the last Spanish
colony disappeared with the proclamation of Cuba's
independence.

Cortes was daring but never rash. His plans were
carefully formed, and his decisions were the result of

30 Letters of Cortes

cautious calculations which seemed to take cognisance
of every emergency, to forestall every risk. In the exe-
cution of his designs, he was as relentless as he was daring.
Both his resolution and his perseverance were implacable,
and those who did not choose to bend to his will were
made to break; but if his hand was iron, soft was the
velvet of his glove. Sois mon frere ou je ie iue, de-
scribes his dealings with all about him. Equanimity and
resolution were the chief characteristics of his conduct.
His self-possession was never disturbed by misfortune,
and as he sustained success without undue elation, so did
he support reverses with fortitude, recognising defeat
as a momentary check, but never accepting it as final.

Besides being compared with Julius Caesar as a general,
he has been ranked with Augustus and Charles V.
as a statesman, and he unquestionably possessed many
of the qualities essential to greatness in common with
them. He ruled his motley band with a happy mixture
of genial comradeship and inflexible discipline, and hence
succeeded, where an excess of either the one or the other
would have brought failure. He knew whom and when
to trust, giving his friendship he avoided favouritism,
with the consequence that his men were united by
the bond of a common trust in their commander. He
shared their hardships, sympathised with their sufferings,
and joined in their pleasures, but he hanged a soldier
who robbed an Indian, he cut off the feet of another who
plotted desertion, while.'in the supreme moment when the
conspiracy to kill him w^as discovered in Texcoco, he
hanged the leader before his own door, but wisely ignored
the trembling accomplices, though he had the list of their
names in his pocket at the time.

From the moment Cortes learned from the Indian
chief of Cempoal that the Aztec rule was heavy on the
subject tribes, and that disloyalty seethed throughout
the Empire only waiting the propitious moment to throw

The Conqueror 31

off the supremacy of fear, his plan to unite all the dis-
contented elements in the land under his standard, and
to overthrow Montezuma by the very instrument his own
cruelties and extortions had created, took shape. His
first move was to persuade the Cacique of Cempoal to
refuse the tribute of twenty men for sacrifice, and to
imprison the collectors sent by Montezuma; by this act
of open rebellion the Totonac tribes exposed themselves
to the summary vengeance of the Aztecs, and were left
with the sole hope of alliance with the Spaniards to save
themselves from the consequences of their insubordination.
This much accomplished, the next step was to win the
gratitude of the tax collectors, and put Montezuma under
obligations. This was done by opposing the Cempoalans'
wish to sacrifice the collectors forthwith, and by later
arranging for the escape by night of two of them, and
sending them to Montezuma with his expressions of re-
gret at the indignities they had suffered, and his assurance
to the Emperor that he would also effect the escape
of the remaining three. These he held as hostages, for
when the escape of the two became known the next day,
Cortes feigned great wrath at the negligence of the guards
and, in order to secure the remaining prisoners, he put
them in irons and sent them on board one of his own
caravels. The news of these events spread quickly,
and the Totanacs, convinced that the hour of successful
revolt against Aztec oppression was at hand, rose as one
man against Montezuma, and committed their lives and
fortunes to the Spaniards. This result was a diplomatic
victory of no mean value.

He next beat the Tlascalans, not into submission but
into an alliance, and this pact he cemented by every art
of which he was master. The astonishment, which many
have lightly expressed, that a mighty state should be so
easily invaded and overthrown by a handful of adventurers
is considerably lessened when the political and racial

32 Letters of Cortes

conditions in the decaying Empire arc understood, and
the part played by the Tlascalans in the conquest is rightly
estimated. They were a warlike people who had preserved
the independence of their mountain republic against the
might of Montezuma, somewhat as the Montenegrins
have ever defended themselves against the Ottoman
power. They were from a military point of view the
equals, if not the superiors, of the Aztecs in the field,
fighting with the same weapons and employing like
tactics ; hence one hundred thousand Tlascalans, captained
by Cortes, who came as the fulfiller of prophecies, almost
a supernatural being with demigods in his train, com-
manding thunder and lightning, and mounted upon
unknown and formidable beasts, were invincible. The
Tlascalans had long bided the time for their vengeance,
and in the alliance with Cortes they saw their opportunity.
In two potential moments Tlascala held the balance of
victory or defeat, and a hair would have tipped it either
way. When the famished, blood-stained remnant of the
Spaniards, flying from the horrors of the Noche Triste,
fell exhausted at the gates of their capital, to annihilate
them was within their choice, but these loyal, short-
sighted Indians stood fast to their bond, took the wreck
of the army in as brothers, nursed them, cured their
wounds, and played the good Samaritan with suicidal
success. Again, without the brigantines, the capture of
Mexico was more than doubtful ; the brigantines meant
famine for the invested city, and even with them it
took seventy-five days to reduce it. Tlascala provided
the material, built the brigantines, paid for them, and
sent eight thousand men to carr}^ them across the moun-
tain passes, escorted b}^ twenty thousand more to pro-
tect the convoy, and finally built the canal from which
they were launched on the lake of Texcoco. Throw
the weight of Tlascala on the Aztec side, and the history
of the conquest of Mexico would have to be re-written.

The Conqueror 33

But even these brave people were wanting in the true
spirit of unity and discipHne essential to the success
of large military operations, and their leaders, despite
their unquestioned bravery, invited defeat by their foolish
jealousies and petty quarrels over questions of personal
vanity. The Indian tribes in Mexico would indeed seem
to have been destitute of patriotic sentiment; tribal
feeling undoubtedly existed, but was, unfortunately for
them, a source rather of disunion than a bond of strength.
In his description of the engagements between the
armies under Xicotencatl and the forces of Cortes, Bemal
Diaz ascribes the victory to three causes, saying that
next to God's help, it was owing to the cavalry (as the
elephants of Pyrrhus struck terror to the Romans, so
did the Spaniards' horses spread panic amongst the
Indians) ; secondly to the inexperience of the Tlascalans,
which prevented their bringing up their troops without
confusion, instead of which they massed them together,
thus enabling the Spanish artillery to do fearful execution
amongst them; and finally because the forces of Guaxo-
cingo, commanded by the chief Chichimecatl, did not
support the action of the commander-in-chief, owing
to their leader's sulkiness over some observations of
Xicotencatl on his conduct during the engagement of the
previous day. This chieftain was plagued with a morbid
touchiness which despoiled his bravery of its virtue, and
Cortes later mentions with what difficulty he was induced
to take the rear-guard rather than the lead, during the
famous convoy of the brigantines from Tlascala over the
mountain passes to the lake of Texcoco, and how he
was only finally persuaded by being assured that the
rear-guard was the post of greatest honour and danger;
even then he made the condition that no Spaniards should
share the responsibility with him. Similar rivalries pre-
vailed likewise in the Senate, and during the discussion on
the reception to be given the Spaniards, the venerable

VOL. I.— 3

34 Letters of Cortes

princes actually came to blows. The story of the con-
quest is, on the Indian side, a humiliating recital of
treachery, mutual betrayals, and tribe plotting against
tribe, each foolishly thinking to use the Spaniards as an
instrument of vengeance against their neighbours, whereas
the fact was that the astute Cortes saw with eminent
satisfaction these enervating dissensions, all of which
he deftly turned to his own profit.

A perpetual coming and going of Aztec ambassadors ac-
companied the march from Vera Cruz. These unfortunate
messengers, burdened wnth conflicting and impossible
instructions, must have felt themselves sent upon a fool's
errand, pulled hither and thither according as Monte-
zuma's hopes or fears happened to be in the ascendant.
The task of turning back the obnoxious strangers, but
without offending them, lest, being gods, they might wreak
vengeance on the Empire, w^as laid upon them. They
carefully watched and quickly reported every step in ad-
vance made by the Spaniards, but their despatches were
disheartening reading for their imperial master, being
but chronicles of Spanish victories, and the defection
of provinces. Only half convinced, yet not daring to
disclose his doubts, of the semi-divine character of the
invaders, Montezuma ordered every attention to be
la\4shed upon them, while at the same time he consulted
astrologers and magicians to discover some means to bane
the pests, or inspired plans for their destruction, as at
Cholula, where, upon the discovery of the plot, he disa-
vowed responsibility, and left the Cholulans to suffer
the consequences.

The absence or control of impulse in Cortes saved him
from many a disaster which daring alone would have
brought upon a leader of equal boldness but less wisdom,
placed as he was. Perhaps the most supremely audacious
act which history records is the seizure of Montezuma in
the midst of his own court, and his conveyance to the

The Conqueror 35

Spanish quarters; an undertaking so stupefying in its
conception and so incredible in its execution that only
the multitude and unanimity of testimony serve to
remove it from the sphere of fable into that of history.
This, however, was not an act of mere daring, but as he
explains to the Emperor in his second letter, a measure of
carefully pondered policy. We are now accustomed to
see "political agents," or financial and military "ad-
visers," near the persons of nominal rulers, to whom the
controlling foreign power concedes sufficient semblance
of independence to mask their essential servitude, but
the system of ruling a nation through the person of its
enslaved sovereign originated with the seizure of Monte-
zuma by Cortes. He was a man of unfeigned piety, of
the stuff of which martyrs are made, nor did his conviction
that he was leading a holy crusade to win lost souls to
salvation ever waver. He says in his Ordenanzas at
Tlascala, that, were the war carried on for any other
motive than to overthrow idolatry and to secure the
salvation of so many souls by converting the Indians to
the holy faith, it would be unjust and obnoxious, nor
would the Emperor be justified in rewarding those who
took part in it.

Among other ordinances governing the moral and
religious welfare of the people in Mexico after the con-
quest, was one which prescribed attendance at the in-
structions in Christian doctrine, given on Sundays and
feast days under pain of stripes. The Jesuit historian
Cavo {Los Tres Siglos de Mexico, tom. i., p. 151) says
that on one occasion when Cortes had himself been absent,
he was reprimanded from the pulpit on the following
Sunday, and, to the stupefaction of the Indians, sub-
mitted to the prescribed flogging in public. Cortes re-
sembled the publican who struck his breast and invoked
mercy for his sins, rather than the Pharisee who found
his chief cause for thankfulness in the contemplation

36 Letters of Cortes

his own superior virtues. Prescott was uncertain whether
this submission to a pubhc whipping should be at-
tributed to " bigotry " or to " pohcy," It seems to have
been first of all an act of simple consistency by which
the commander sanctioned the law he had himself es-
tablished. Precept is ever plentiful but example is the
better teacher, and a more striking and unforgctable
example of the equality of all under the law, it would
indeed be difificult to find in history. The policy of
demonstrating that no one's faults were exempt from
the punishment provided by the law was unquestionably
present, and deserving only of applause, but for bigotry
there seems to be no place whatever, unless indeed the
provision of compulsory instruction for both the natives
and the Spaniards in Christian doctrine be so described.

His religious zeal was sometimes intemperate, nor
was it always guided by prudence, but he usually showed
wisdom in submitting to the restraining influence of some
handy friar whose saner and more persuasive methods
promised surer results than his own strenuous system of
conversion would have secured. Nowhere is the vindica-
tion of the religious orders in dealing with native races
more convincingly established than in the histor}' of
their early relations w4th the Mexicans. The restraints
the commander placed on the license of his soldiers might
well have been prompted by his policy of winning the
friendly confidence of the Indians, but his measures for
repressing profanity of every sort, gambling and other
camp vices, and his insistence upon daily mass and
prayer before and thanksgivings after battle, are traceable
to no such motive, and it is more than once recorded that
the Indians were profoundly impressed by the decorous
solemnity of the religious ceremonies and the devotion
shown by the Spaniards.

Shortcomings in the practice of the moral precepts of
religion, either in that century or in this, are not con-

The Conqueror 37

fined to men who find themselves cut adrift from the
usual restraints of civilised society, isolated and para-
mount amidst barbarians, whose inferior moral standard
provides constant and easy temptations to lapse, and,
while it were as difficult as it is unnecessary to attempt
a defence of the excesses which the Spaniards undoubtedly
committed in Mexico, it is equally impossible to condemn
them as exceptional. Commenting upon the strange
contradiction between professed piety, and practised
vice and cruelty, Prescott writes : ' ' When we see the
hand, red with the blood of the wretched native, raised
to invoke the blessing of heaven, we experience something
like a sensation of disgust, and a doubt of its sincerity."
The distinguished historian here voices a facile assumption
all too common amongst many who, lacking his luminous
comprehension of the spirit of that age, commit the
injustice of measuring the acts of its men by the more
humane standards of our own times. He himself acquits
Cortes of the imputation of insincerity, and declares that
no one who reads his correspondence, or studies the events
of his career, can doubt that he would have been the
first to lay down his life for the Faith. Too many barriers,
however, interposed between the Anglo-Saxon protestant
historian of the nineteenth century and the Spanish Catho-
licism of the sixteenth to allow even one of his superior his-
torical acumen to accurately appreciate the operation of
religious influences on the character of such a man as
Fernando Cortes, whose military conquest was prompted
in a large measure by genuinely leligious motives, but
whose fervent practice of the Church's teachings unfortun-
ately alternated with lapses into grievous sensuality.

Whatever else may be doubted, the religious sincerity ,
and martial courage of Fernando Cortes are above im- ^
peachment. He was a stranger to hypocrisy which is a
smug vice of cowards and if his reasons for acts of policy,
which cost many lives, may be deplored by the humane,

38 Letters of Cortes

their honesty may be reasonably impugned by none. Had
the influence of his faith on his morals been proportionate
to its strength, he would have merited canonisation.

Sixteenth century Spain produced a race of Christian
warriors whose piety, born of an intense realisation of,
and love for a militant Christ, was of a martial complexion,
beholding in the symbol of salvation — the Cross — the
standard of Christendom, around which the faithful must
rally, and for whose protection and exaltation swords
must be drawn and blood spilled if need be. They were
the children of the generation which had expelled the
last Moor from Spain, and had brought centuries of re-
Hgious and patriotic warfare to a triumphant close, in
which their country was finally united under the crown
of Castile. From such forebears the generation of Cortes
received their heritage of Christian chivalry. The dis-
covery of a new world, peopled by barbarians, opened a
new field to Spanish missionary zeal, in which the kingdom
of God upon earth was to be extended, and countless
souls rescued from the obscene idolatries and debasing
cannibalism which enslaved them. This was the "white
man's burden "which that century laid on the Spaniard's
shoulders. To the scoffing philosopher of the eighteenth
century, these crusading buccaneers in whose characters
the mystic and the sensualist fought for the mastery
seemed but knaves clumsily masquerading as fools. The
fierce piety, which furnished entertainment to the age
of Voltaire, somewhat puzzles our own. Expeditions
now set forth into dark continents unburdened with
professions of concern for the spiritual or moral welfare
of the natives. Indeed, nothing is deemed more foolish
than attempts to interfere with the religious beliefs and
practices of barbarians, and the commander in our times,
who would overturn an idol merely to set up a wooden
cross, thereby exposing his followers to the risk of being
massacred, would be court-martialled and degraded, if

The Conqueror 39

indeed he ever ventured to return to civilisation. If
such work is to be done at all, there are richly endowed
missionary societies to attend to it. But even the
equipment of the missionaries who undertake to carry
evangelical doctrine amongst savage peoples presents
some striking contrasts to the barefooted Spanish friars
who first preached Christianity to the Mexicans. If the
heathen are no longer brought by compulsion into the
light, we make them pay a heavy indemnity for their
privilege of sitting in darkness, and, whenever their
opposition to the dissemination of Christian teaching
amongst them emerges from quiesence into activity, a
warship is ready to bombard their coasts while troops
are at hand to annex a province.

In the eighth of Lord Lyttleton's Dialogues of the Dead
the shades of Fernando Cortes and William Penn are
made to discourse with one another upon the merits of
their respective undertakings in North America, each ghost
defending its own system. Friend Penn in one passage
says to Cortes:

I know very well that thou wast as fierce as a lion and as
subtle as a serpent. The Devil, perhaps, may place thee as
high in his black list of heroes as Alexander or Caesar. It is not
my business to interfere with him in settling thy rank. But
hark thee, Friend Cortes, — What right hadst thou or had the
King of Spain himself to the Mexican Empire? Answer me
that, if thou canst.

Cortes. The Pope gave it to my Master.

Penn. The Devil offered to give our Lord all the king-
doms of the earth, and I suppose the Pope as His Vicar gave
thy Master this; in return for which he fell down and wor-
shipped him like an idolater as he was, etc.

The ghost of Penn defends his possession of Pennsyl-
vania, alleging the honest right of fair purchase; to which
Cortes replies :

40 Letters of Cortes

I am afraid there was a little fraiid in the purchase — thy
followers, William Perm, are said to think cheating in a quiet,
sober way no mortal sin.

The verbal skirmish continues in this vein, and con-
cludes thus:

Penn. Ask thy heart whether ambition was not thy
real motive, and zeal the pretence?

Cortes. Ask thine whether thy zeal had no worldly
views, and whether thou didst believe all the nonsense of the
sect at the head of which thou wast pleased to become a
legislator. Adieu, self-examination requires retirement.

The author does not allow for any clearing of the human
perceptions in the spirit world, and it is probable that
had Fernando Cortes and William Penn been contempo-
raries and able to discuss their respective systems of deal-
ing with Indians, and founding settlements, they would
ha\ e found more points of agreement than their loqua-
cious ghosts were able to discover. The flaccid defence
advanced by Cortes's shade betrays some deteriora-
tion of mental power, for in his lifetime the conqueror was
hardly less formidable in polemics than he was on the
battle-field, but, in the feeble discourse put in the mouth
of this pale spirit, we find nothing of the fierceness of
the Hon or the subtlety of the serpent which Friend Penn
attributed to Cortes in the flesh.

Penn's ghost professes to find Cortes's religious motives
suspect, yet there are not more proofs of his presence in
Mexico than there are of his absolute belief in himself as a
divinely chosen instrument for the conversion of souls.
Purging the human soul from the taint of idolatry or
heresy by means of physical torments is a familiar blot
on the pages of the history of religions.

More than a century after the conquest of Mexico the
New England Puritans were torturing and killing by
process of law, — not savage enemies who threatened

The Conqueror 41

their security, but one another, and all within their
power, who dissented from their own gloomy and pecul-
iar theological delusions. They may have believed in
the mercy of God, but they grimly preferred to see
themselves as ministers of His wrath.

Nothing, more than the exercise of great power by a
conscientious man, imbued with faith in himself as a
chosen instrument for executing divine justice on his
fellow men, is surer to produce a very Frankenstein of
fanaticism, and all peoples and creeds have furnished
the spectacle of men of professing godliness, who slew
to save, and whose claim to a great mission was written
in the blood of those who were described as God's enemies.
There is even Scripture warranty for it. If invasion of an
unoffending nation for the purpose of conquest be justi-
fiable, either by moral or utilitarian arguments, then
the sufferings which inevitable resistance must bring are
covered by the same justifications.

The accusation of wanton cruelty, too lightly brought
against Cortes has been diligently propagated by the
interested, and complacently accepted by the indiscrim-
inating, until dissent from it awakens incredulous sur-
prise. Nevertheless, all that can be learned of his
character proves that Cortes was not by nature cruel, nor
did he take wanton pleasure in the sufferings of others.
Conciliation and coercion were both amongst his weapons,
his natural preference being for the former, as is seen by
his never once failing in his dealings with the Indians
to exhaust peaceful methods before resorting to force.
The secret of carrying on a war of conquest mercifully
has not yet been discovered, and recent reports from
Africa and the Philippines do not show much advance
on the policy of the Spaniards in Mexico four hundred
years ago, though it cannot be pretended that our
modern expeditions are attended by the perils, known, —
and most of all the unknown, — which awaited the

42 TxttcTS of Cortes

ignorant adventurers in the New World at every
turn.

There were three ends which according to Cortes's
ethics justified any measures for their accomplishment,
ist, the spread of the faith, 2nd, the subjugation of the
Indians to Spanish rule, and 3rd, the possession of their
treasures; and as his narrative of the conquest unfolds
itself, it will be seen that his resolution stopped at nothing
for the achievement of these ends. But there is no
instance of tortures and suflering being treated by him
as a sport. Whether he might not have accomplished
all he did with less bloodshed, is a purely speculative
question. Fr. Acosta {Storia de las Indias, lib. vii., cap.
XXV.) states that so entirely were the Mexicans imbued
with the belief that the Spaniards came in fulfilment of the
prophecy of their most beneficent deity, Quetzalcoatl, that
Montezuma would have abdicated, and the whole empire
have passed into their hands without a struggle, had
Cortes but comprehended the force of the prevailing
superstition, and met the popular expectation by rising
consistently to his role of demigod. There are facts
which tend to lend weight to this argument, and had Cortes
but realised the possibilities, he might have been equal to
the part, though his followers fell so lamentably short,
that it is doubtful if the illusion could have been long
sustained. As it was, the awful tragedy of the Sorrowfid
Night, and the downfall, amidst bloodshed and suffering
unspeakable of Mexico, was precipitated by the brutal
folly of Alvarado, — not of Cortes.

In his relations with women, Cortes shows his primi-
tive polygamous temperament. Even at the age of
sixteen in his native Medellin, we find him falling from
a wall and all but losing his life in an amorous adventure
with an anonymous fair one, and throughout his life
these intrigues succeeded one another unbrokenly; but
his loves were so entirely things "of his life apart," that

The Conqueror 43

their influence upon his motives or his actions is never
discernible. In Cuba his role of Don Juan brought him
into a conflict with the Governor, which was the origin
of their Hfe-long duel for supremacy in the colonies. But
Catalina Xuarez, about whom the trouble first began, is
quickly lost sight of; she passes like a pale shade across
that epoch of her husband's life, and is never heard of
again, until her uninvited presence in Mexico, followed
quickly by her unlamented death, is briefly mentioned.
The most important woman in his life was his Indian
interpreter, Marina, and some writers have sought to
weave a romance into the story of their relations, for which
there seems, upon examination, to be little enough sub-
stantial material. During the period when she was in-
dispensable to the business in hand, she was never
separated from Cortes, but we know that he was not
faithful to her even then, while, as soon as she ceased
to be necessary, she was got rid of as easily as she had
been acquired.

Montezuma gave him his daughter, who first received
Christian baptism to render her worthy of the commander's
companionship, and was known as Dofia Ana. She
lived openly with Cortes in his quarters, and had with
her, her two sisters, Inez and Elvira, and a sister of the
King of Texcoco who was called Dona Francisca. Dofia
Ana was killed during the retreat on the Sorrowful Night,
and was pregnant at the time. A third daughter of the
Emperor, Dofia Isabel, married Alonso de Grado, who
shortly afterwards died, when she also passed into the
household of the conqueror, to whom she bore a daughter.
(Bernal Diaz, cap. cvii. ; Bernaldino Vasquez de Tapia,
tom. ii., pp. 244, 305-306; Gonzalo Mejia, tom. ii., pp.
240-241) . According to Juan Tirado two of Montezuma's
daughters bore sons to Cortes, and one bore a daughter.
(Orozco y Berra, Conquista de Mexico, \ih. ii.,cap. vi., note.)

In his last will, Cortes mentions another natural

44 Letters of Cortes

daughter, whose mother was Leonor Pizarro, who after-
wards married Juan de Salcedo.

It is thus positively known that besides Marina, there
were four other ladies who shared in his affections during
this period of the conquest, and meanwhile his first wife
Catalina Xuarez la Marcaida was alive in Cuba. These
undisguised philanderings must have somewhat blighted
Marina's romance.

His marriage with Dofia Juana de Zufiiga took place
when he was at the zenith of his fame. The advantages
such an alliance with a noble and powerful family of
Castile seemed to promise, though many, were perhaps
not as tangible as the ambitious conqueror had hoped.
The marriage was negotiated before he and the lady had
met, but it does not appear to have been less happy for
this conformity to a custom which at that time was uni-
versal in noble families. Dofla Juana could have seen
but little of her restless husband, who was perpetually
engaged elsewhere, but she was a good wife, and loved
him, just as did Catalina Xuarez and all his mistresses
while his uxorious instincts made it easy for him to be
equally happy with all of them. He was affectionate and
tender, devoted to all of his children, distinguishing but
little between his legitimate and his natural offspring in
a truly patiarchal fashion. For the latter he secured
Bulls of legitimacy from the Pope, and provided generously
in his will. Not less strong was his filial piety, and among
the first treasure sent to Spain, there went gifts to his
father and mother in Medellin, and, after his father's
death, he brought his mother to Mexico, where she died,
and was buried in the vault at Texcoco, w^here his own
body was afterwards laid.

The Fifth Letter reports the events of his long journey
of exploration through Yucatan. In setting forth on
this expedition which was to cover a distance of five
hundred leagues through savage wilds, Cortes affected

The Conqueror 45

the pomp of an Oriental satrap, taking with him besides
the necessary soldiers, guides, Indian allies, and camp
followers, a complete household of stewards, valets,
pages, grooms, and other attendants, all under the com-
mand of a major-domo of the household. Gold and
silver plate for his table was provided, also musicians,
jugglers, and acrobats to amuse the company. Spanish
muleteers and equerries were taken to have charge of
the carriages and horses, and, in addition to the usual
provender, to ensure a supply of meat, an immense drove
of pigs was driven along, which could not have accelerated
the march. He had a map painted on cloth by native
artists, which showed after their fashion the rivers and
mountain chains to be crossed. This and his compass
were all Cortes could rely upon to guide him during his
perilous undertaking. Dona Marina went as chief
interpreter, but Geronimo de Aguilar did not accompany
this expedition, though he was not dead, as Bernal Diaz
states, for in 1525 he applied for a piece of land on which
to build a house in the street now called Balvanera
(Alaman, Dissertazioni IV.). The record of these events,
however noteworthy, may seem tame reading after the
exciting chronicle of the siege and fall of Mexico — a war
drama of the most intense kind, but, in forming a correct
estimate of Cortes' s character we must not restrict our-
selves to a study of the qualities displayed in the course
of the conquest, and which prove him a most resourceful
military genius. At five and thirty years of age he had
successfully completed as daring and momentous an
undertaking as history records, and it is as conqueror
of Mexico that he takes his place among the world's
great heroes. M. Desire Charnay, in the preface to his
French translation of the Five Letters, says : "La conquete

de Cortes coMa au Mexique plus de dix millions

d'etres humains emportes par la guerre, les maladies et
les mauvais tr ailments: de sorte que cef homme de genie

46 Letters of Cortes

petit cntrcr sans contcste dans la redoutable phalange des
fi^anx dc I' humanity."

His subsequent undertakings called for the exercise
of qualities hardly less remarkable, though of a different
order, and it was absence of productive success which
has caused them to be overlooked in a world where
results count for more than effort.

It was never the policy of the Spanish crown to entrust
the government of dependencies to their discoverers
or conquerors, and when powerful friends at Court sought
in 1529 to prevail upon Charles the Fifth to grant Cortes
supreme power under the crown in Mexico, His Majesty
was not to be persuaded; and in refusing he pointed out
that his royal precedessors had never done this, even
in the case of Columbus, or of Gonsalvo de Cordoba, the
conqueror of Naples. Had it been possible, however,
or the Emperor to free himself from the suspicions which
the persistent intrigues of Cortes's enemies fomented,
especially from the jealous fear of a possible aspiration to
independent sovereignty, it cannot be doubted that the
wisest thing, both for Mexico and for the royal interests,
would have been the installation of Cortes in as inde-
pendent a vice-royalty as was compatible with the main-
tenance of the royal supremacy. While Cortes, in
common with all his kind, loved gold, he was not a mere
\ailgar plunderer, seeking to hastily enrich himself, at
no matter what cost to the country, in order to retire
to a life of luxury in Spain. Moreover even granting
that he had started with no larger purpose, it is plain
that he was himself at the outset unconscious, both of
his own powers and of the strange drama about to unfold,
in w^hich destiny reserved him the first part. By the
time the conquest was completed, his knowledge of the
possibilities of Mexico had expanded, so that his views
on all questions connected with the occupation, the
government and the future welfare of the country, hap

The Conqueror 47

developed from the schemes of a mere adventurer into the
policy of a statesman. The constantly revived accusation
of aspiring to independent sovereignty was a myth, for
the Emperor had no more faithful subject than Cortes, in
whom the dual mainsprings of action were religion and
loyalty.

His better judgment condemned the system of enco-
miendas, and only admitted slavery as a form of punish-
ment for the crime of rebellion, even then to be mitigated
by every possible safeguard. Far from driving the
natives from their homes, or wishing to deport them to
the islands, he used every inducement to encourage them to
remain in their towns, to rebuild their cities, and resume
their industries, realising full well that the true strength
of government, as well as the surest source of revenue,
lay in a pacific and busy population. To this end he
adopted the system of restoring or maintaining the native
chiefs in their jurisdiction and dignity, imposing upon
them the obligation of ruling their tribes, — and persuading
those who had been frightened away to the mountains
to return to their villages. The exceptions to this policy
were in the cases of certain rebellious princes, whom he
considered powerful enough to be dangerous.

That Cortes understood the Indians and had a kindly
feeling for them, is proven many times over, while the
proofs of their affection for him are even more numerous.
Malintzin was a name to conjure with amongst them,
and while familiar relations with most of the other Span-
iards speedily bred contempt, their attachment to Cortes
increased as time went on. The iron policy which used
massacres, torture, and slavery for its instruments of
conquest, did not revolt the Indians, since it presented
no contrast to the usage common among themselves in
time of war; vcb victis comprised the ethics of native
kings, who in addition to wars for aggrandisement of
territory and increase of glory also waged them solely

48 Letters of Cortes

to obtain victims for the sacrificial altars of their gods.
This ghastly levy ceased with the introduction of
Malintzin's religion, and he brought no hitherto un-
familiar horror as a substitute for it.

Some writers have even essayed to parallel the cruelties
incident to the procedure of the Inquisition, and the
executions after sentence by that tribunal, with the human
sacrifices of the Aztecs. Without here embarking upon
an investigation of the methods of the Inquisition, it
may, in strict justice, be pointed out that, as far as Mexico
was concerned, the researches of the learned archaeologist,
Garcia Icazbalceta, have shown that during the two hun-
dred and seventy years of its existence in that country,
the number of persons delivered to the secular arm for
execution was forty-seven (Bihliografia Mexicana del
Siglo, XVI., page 382). Moreover the Indians were
exempt from molestation for they were expressly defined
as being outside the jurisdiction of the Holy Office.

Except the independent Tlascalans, all the other
peoples of Anahuac were held in stem subjection by the
Aztec emperor; heavy taxes were collected from them,
human life was without value, torture was in common
use; their sons were seized for sacrifice, their daughters
replenished the harems of the confederated kings and great
nobles, so that Cortes was welcomed as the Hberator of
subject peoples, the redresser of wrongs. He had pro-
cured them the sweets of a long nourished, but despaired
of, vengeance, and, though it was but the exchange of
one master for another, they tasted the satisfaction of
ha\'ing squared some old scores with their oppressors.
The conquest completed, Cortes bent all his efforts to
creating systems of government under which the different
peoples might live and prosper in common security, and,
with the disappearance of the need for them, the harsher
methods also vanished. Few of his cherished intentions
were realised, however, and the power which would have

The Conqueror 49

enabled him to bring his wiser plans to fruition was
denied hiin.

The fruits of conquest are bitterness of spirit and
disappointment, though Cortes fared better than his
great contemporaries Columbus, Balboa, and Pizarro,
who after discovering continents and oceans and sub-
duing empires were requited with chains, the scaffold,
and the traitor's dagger. True, he saw himself defrauded
of his deserts, while royal promises were found to be
elastic; and in his last years he was even treated as an
importunate suppliant, being excluded from the presence
of the sovereign to whose crown he had given an empire.

Lesser men would have been content with the world-
wide fame, the great title, and vast estates to which
from modest beginnings Cortes had 'risen in a few brief
years, but a lesser man would never have accomplished
such vast undertakings, and it was his curse that his
ambitions kept pace with his achievements. From the
fall of Mexico until his death, his life was a series of
disappointments, unfulfilled ambitions, and petty miseries,
due to the malice of rivals, and the faithlessness of
friends, relieved only by some brief periods of splendid
triumph, illumined by royal favour. Even financial
embarrassments were not spared him. A curse was
on the Aztec gold, and it was not enough that little
treasure was found in the city, but Cortes must be ac-
cused, in the unreasoning fury of the general disappoint-
ment, of being in collusion with Quauhtemotzin to
conceal the hoard and share it together later on. He
yielded to this murmuring and consented to the torture
of the captive Emperor, for whose safety he had pledged
his word, thus staining his name with an indelible blot of
shame. His journeys to Yucatan and Honduras, so fully
related in the Fifth Letter, would have won renown for
another but they added nothing to his reputation. The
several expeditions to the South Sea, and his discovery

VOL. I. 4

^o Letters of Cortes

of California, all cost him immense sums, plunged him
into debt, and merely served to pave the way for later
undertakings, so that he might with reason have ex-
claimed with Columbus, "I have opened the door for
others to enter." During this time he was surrounded by
enemies hidden and declared, who sent complaints of him
to Spain by every ship ; he was accused of murdering his
wife Catalina Xuarez who had died within a few months
after her arrival in Mexico where, though possibly unwel-
come, she was received with due honours; he was accused
of defrauding the royal treasury, as well as his companions
in arms, and of taking an undue share of the spoils for him-
self ; and finally he was accused of planning to throw off his
allegiance to Spain, and set up an independent government
with himself as king. These ceaseless intrigues against
him finally decided the Emperor to send a high commis-
sioner (juez de residencia) to investigate, not only all
charges against the Captain-General, but also to report
upon the general condition of affairs in New Spain. This
was the means usuall}^ employed in such cases and did
not necessarily constitute any indignity to Cortes, to
whom the Emperor took occasion to write, notifying
him of his decision, and assuring him that it was
in no sense prompted by suspicions of his loyalty or
honesty, but rather to furnish him with the opportunity
of silencing his calumniators once for all by proving his
innocence. Don Luis Ponce de Leon, a young man of
high character and unusual attainments, was charged
with this delicate mission, and his appointment was
universally applauded as an admirable one.

He was received upon his anival in Mexico by Cortes
and all the authorities with every distinction due to him,
but his untimely death of a fever within a few weeks after
his arrival defeated the good results expected from his
labours, and also furnished Cortes's enemies with another
accusation — that of poisoning the royal commissioner.

The Conqueror 51

His powers devolved upon Marcos de Aguilar, who was
not only too old for such an arduous post, but was ill of
a disease which, it was said, obliged him to take nourish-
ment by suckling, for which purpose wet nurses and
she-goats were daily furnished him. The speedy death of
this harmless old man started another story of poisoning,
and was followed by the supreme disaster of Estrada's
succession to the ill-starred commissionership, under
whom the baiting of Cortes went on apace, while the en-
tire population, Spanish as well as native, groaned under
oppressions and vexations innumerable. The slave-trade
was carried on shamelessly with nameless cruelties,
chiefly by the brutal Nufiez de Guzman, a partisan of
Diego Velasquez, who had been placed by the latter's
influence as Governor of Panuco, for the express purpose
of tormenting Cortes, and fomenting cabals against his
authority. This petty tyrant committed barbarities
never before heard of in Mexico.

Wearied out with persecutions and insults, and hopeless
of obtaining justice from such officials as Estrada and his
subordinates, Cortes decided to go to Spain and lay his
own case before the Emperor. His decision created some
consternation amongst his opponents, and Estrada realised
that it was a grave blunder to drive the Captain-General
to make a personal appeal to the Emperor. If opposition
or concessions could have stopped him, Cortes would
have relinquished his plan, for overtures were made
through the bishop of Tlascala, and promises of satisfac-
tion were not spared; but his preparations were well
under way, and, though perhaps somewhat mollified by
the changed tone of Estrada, he remained firm in his
purpose. Sailing with two ships from Vera Cruz (where
he learned the news of his father's death), he landed after
an unusually brief and prosperous voyage at the historic
port of Palos in May, 1528.

CHAPTER IV

MARQUES DEL VALLE

CORTES had arranged that his arrival at the Spanish
Court should be of the nature of a veritable
pageant. Different estimates of the treasure he
took with him are given by different authorities, but
these are mere matters of figures; the amount was
fabulous, and, in addition to this, he carried a perfect
museum of Mexican objects, such as the unique feather-
work in which the Indians excelled, arms, embroideries,
implements of obsidian, rare plants; indigenous products
such as chocolate, tobacco, vanilla, and liquid amber;
gorgeous pan-ots, herons, jaguars, and other beautiful
birds and animals unknown in Spain were carried
or led by Indians, in the dress of their tribes. That
nothing might be wanting, he took with him many
skilful jugglers, acrobats, dwarfs, albinos, and human
monstrosities, which were much the fashion at that time,
and these curiosities made such a sensation upon his
arrival, that Charles the Fifth could think of no fitter
destination for them than to send them on to His Holiness
Clement the Seventh, before w^hom they performed
and showed themselves to the delight and wonder of the
pontifical Court. In the personal suite of the Conqueror,
besides the numerous officials of his household, there
went about forty Indian princes in their most gorgeous
robes and jewels, amongst whom were the sons of
Montezuma and of the Tlascalan chief, Maxixcatzin.

The arrival of this magnificent cortege at Palos was

52

Marques del Valle 53

unannounced, and hence no fitting reception had been
prepared there, but accident supplied a more remarkable
grouping of interesting men of the century than design
could have provided. Within the modest walls of Santa
Maria la Rabida, where Columbus had found hospitality,
there met with Cortes, who was accompanied by Gonzalo
de Sandoval and Andres de Tapia, Francisco Pizarro,
whose brilliant career in South America, rivalling that
of Cortes in the North, was just dawning; and by a fateful
coincidence, there was also in the suite of Cortes, the
Spanish soldier Juan de Rada, by whose hand Pizarro
was destined to perish in Peru. The date of his arrival
at Palos is given by Bernal Diaz as December 1527, but
Herrera's authority for the later date has been followed
by Prescott, Alaman, and other historians.

The triumphal home-coming was marred at the very
outset by the death of Gonzalo de Sandoval at Palos, a
few days after their landing. For none of his captains
did "Cortes cherish the affection he felt for this gallant
young soldier, who was his fellow-townsman and loyal
friend. Sandoval was buried at La Rabida, and Cortes
first went on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Guadeloupe,
where he spent some days in mourning his loss, and having
masses celebrated for the departed soul. This pious
duty accomplished he set out for Toledo, where the Court
then was, and as the news of his arrival had spread, and
had also been announced by his own letter to the Emperor,
he was ever3rwhere accorded a veritable triumph by the
people, who flocked from all sides to see the hero of the
great conquest, and to gaze upon the marvellous trophies
which he brought ; so that since the first return of Columbus
no such demonstrations had been seen in Spain.

A brilliant group of nobles comprising the Duke of
Bejar, the Counts of Aguilar and Medellin, the Grand
Prior of St. John, and many of the first citizens of Toledo,
rode out from the city to meet the conqueror on the

54 Letters of Cortes

plain, and the next day the Emperor received him with
every mark of favour, raising him up when he would
have knelt in the royal presence, and seating him by his
side. The moment was an auspicious one, for influences
had been at work in his favour. Since the appointment
of the new commission of residencia, presided over by the
infamous Nunez de Guzman, which had already left Spain,
the Emperor's information as to the real state of things in
Mexico and the respective merits of the contending parties,
had been much extended and perfected. He consulted
Cortes during his stay at Court upon everything pertaining
to the new realm ; its resources, the natives, their customs,
the Spanish colonists, and especially concerning the best
means for establishing a stable government, and develop-
ing industries and agriculture.

Besides full power to continue his explorations, and
the confirmation of his rank of Captain- General, the title
of Marques del Valle de Oaxaca was conferred upon Cortes
and his descendants, by patents dated July 6, 1529, to
which was joined avast grant of lands, comprising twenty-
eight towns and \allages; one tw^elfth of all his future
discoveries was to be his owti. He received the knight-
hood and habit of Santiago, and when he was confined to
his lodgings by illness, the Emperor visited him in person,
this latter being such a singular honour, that, as Prescott
caustically observes, the Spanish writers of the time
seemed to regard it as ample recompense for all he had
done and suffered. It does not seem certain that he
accepted the knighthood of Santiago, though Hen-era
says that he had already possessed it since 1525. His
reason for his alleged refusal was that no commenda vras
attached to the dignity, and Alaman {Dissertazione V.) says
that while his name is on the rolls of the order, the
insignia do not appear either in his arms or his portraits,
nor is any mention found of his possession of this grade
in the list of his honours.

Marques del Valle 55

It is good to note that Cortes did not forget his friends
while he was at court, but profited by the Emperor's
hour of graciousness to obtain countless favours for them,
especially for the Indians. The Tlascalans, in recognition
of their loyalty, were exempted for ever from taxes and
tribute; the Cempoalans were granted a Hke exemption
for a period of two years ; a college for the sons of Mexi-
can nobles, and another for girls, were endowed. Money
was awarded to the Franciscan order for building churches
and schools; tithes were established to maintain the
Bishop Zumarraga; various privileges were secured for
the original "conquerors" who had settled in the coun-
try. Also generous doweries were appointed to the four
daughters of Montezuma, who were being educated in a
convent in Texcoco, as well as to the daughters of Mex-
ican nobles who married Spaniards.

During his stay in Spain, Cortes married his second
wife Dona Juana de Zufiiga, a daughter of the Count of
Aguilar, and niece of the Duke of Bejar. His gifts to his
bride were of such magnificence as to arouse even the
Queen's envy, especially the five large stones described
as emeralds, which excelled any jewels ever seen, and
were worth a nation's ransom. There were no emeralds
in Mexico, and these stones were probably a kind of jade
or serpentine of great brilliancy and value, which were
easily confounded with emeralds. One of these stones
was cut as a bell, whose tongue was formed of a large
pear-shaped pearl, and which bore the inscription henedito
sea el que te crio; another was shaped like a fish with
golden eyes; the third was in the form of a rose; the
fourth in that of a trumpet; and the fifth was fashioned
into a cup, surmounted by a superb pearl, and standing
on a base of gold, on which was the inscription, inter natos
mulierum non surexit major. For this last jewel alone,
some Genoese merchants who saw it at Palos offered
forty thousand ducats. The fame of these jewels was

$6 Letters of Cortes

such that the Queen expressed a wish to have them, and,
had not Cortes forestalled the royal desire by presenting
them to Dona Juana de Zuniga as a marriage gift they
would doubtless have passed into the crown jewels of
Spain.

In the meantime, while Cortes was being lionised and
honoured in Spain, his enemies in Mexico were not idle,
for Nufiez de Guzman from the moment of arriving there
had begun secretly to collect information against him, and
by unscrupulous and inquisitorial methods easily succeeded
in forming a voluminous budget of accusations, among
which figured the alleged poisoning of Luis Ponce de Leon,
the conspiracy to establish himself as independent sovereign
in Mexico, defrauding the royal fisc, and incitement of the
Indians to rebel against the royal authority while he was
absent in Spain. Encouraging the enemies of Cortes
to depose against him on the one hand, Guzman found
excuses for persecuting his friends on the other, even to
the extent of imprisoning, torturing, and hanging them
on one pretext or another. Things reached such a pass
through the violence of the president's conduct, that the
Bishop Fray Juan Zumarraga, a man whose exemplary
life gave him great influence, and the Franciscan monks,
sent a vigorous protest to Spain against Guzman
and his auditors, praying that he be deposed. This
petition provoked an order from the Empress-Regent and
the Royal Council, to take their residencia, and that they
be imprisoned if found guilty of the abuses imputed
to them. The bishop himself was appointed, ad interim,
president of the new aiidiencia, which was composed
of Quiroga, Salmeron, and Ceynos pending the arrival of
the permanent president, Don Sebastian Ramirez de
Fuenleal, then Bishop of San Domingo, and afterwards
of Cuenca.

Nufiez de Guzman sought to evade the issue by organ-
ising, against the Chichimecas, an expedition which he

Marques del Valle 57

conducted with characteristic brutality. He left the
city at the head of five hundred Spaniards, and over
two thousand Indians, between auxiliaries and camp
servants, before Cortes returned from Spain.

The powers conceded to Cortes as Captain-General,
and for the continuation of his explorations and discover-
ies, were so large, and so ill-defined, that they could hardly
fail to conflict with those of the royal audiencia, and
this came to pass immediately after his arrival at Vera
Cruz on July 15, 1530. The Marques, as he was hence-
forward called, was accompanied by his wife and his
mother, and was received upon landing with jubilation
by Spaniards and Indians alike, who flocked in thousands
from all parts to welcome him, and to present their
grievances for his adjustment. The new audiencia was
not yet constituted, and the auditors, Matienzo and
Delgadillo, sent strict orders to Vera Cruz that the people
assembled there in Cortes's honour disperse to their
homes, while to Cortes himself, who had meanwhile
marched amid ovations by the way of Tlascala to Texcoco,
they delivered a prohibition to enter the capital. This
order was in conformity with the instructions given him
before leaving Spain, so he was obliged to respect it, and
to estabHsh himself at Texcoco until the arrival of the
new audiencia which took place in December of the same
year, 1530. At the outset everything went well, and
the new auditors rendered justice in several of Cortes's
claims, and took counsel with him concerning affairs and
the measures to be adopted. This promising state of
things, however, was of brief duration, and, in their
letter of February 22, 153 1, to the Emperor, they made
complaints of his pretensions, and mentioned among
other things that the bishop in reading the prayers for
the King and royal family added after the words cum
prole regia '' et duce exercitus nostri," and that they had
corrected him for so doing.

58 Letters of Cortes

Another of their letters, in August, 1532, complains of
his great influence over the natives, and of his using
his powers as Captain-General to revenge himself on his
enemies, adding, "He says he will resign the Captaincy
General and return to Spain. Oh if he would only do it ! "
(Munoz, torn. Ixxix., fol. 118). The auditors at other
times ad\nsed that he be called to Spain on some
pretext, — the more so as he wanted to go.

The conquest finished, Cortes's occupation was gone.
His proud spirit and active temperament could ill brook
the checks of the audiencia, and the limitations set to his
enterprises by men who neither understood nor sym-
pathised with them. At one time he retired in disgust
from the capital, intending to devote himself to the ad-
ministration of the affairs of his vast marquisate of Oaxaca.
The capture of the picturesque town of Cuernavaca is
described in the third letter, and for beauty of position
it has few rivals even in Mexico. Here Cortes had built
himself a handsome palace and a large church, both
of which are still standing, though in a lamentable state
of advancing delapidation. As a planter in Cuba, he had
already shown initiative and capacity, and he profited
by his former experience to introduce successfully the
sugar cane, the silk-worm culture, new breeds of the
merino sheep and various other kinds of cattle. Mills
for the handling of raw products were established in
various places, and these new industries with which
Cortes endowed Mexico have continued to be among
her chief sources of wealth. But this was insufficient
to occupy his restless activities, which, by the news of
events in Peru, and of the rich countries discovered in the
South Sea and along the Gulf of California, were constantly
excited to plan fresh enterprises. In May, 1532, he
fitted out two vessels which sailed from Acapulco, under
command of his cousin Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, one
of which uith the commander on board was never heard of

Marques del Valle 59

again, while the other reached Jalisco after many perils.
The misfortunes of this expedition began with a mutiny.

Two years later (1534) he built two more vessels at
Tehuantepec, which he entrusted to Hernando Grijalba,
and Diego de Bezerra de Mendoza (a relative) respectively,
with Ortun Jimenez as pilot. The ships got separated
the first night out and never saw one another again. The
one commanded by Grijalba discovered a deserted island
called Santo Tome, somewhere off the point of Lower Cali-
fornia, and returned thence to Tehuantepec; the fate of
the other was tragical, for Bezerra was murdered in his
sleep by the pilot Jimenez, who took command, and, after
coasting along Jalisco, landed at the Bay of Santa Cruz,
where he, with twenty Spaniards, was killed by the natives.
The remaining sailors got back to the port of Chiametla,
where Nunez de Guzman, who was then in Jalisco, took
possession of the vessel.

These two fruitless ventures decided Cortes to take
command himself, and in 1536 he sent three ships from
Tehuantepec to the port of Chiametla where he joined
them, marching overland from Mexico. He regained
possession of the ship which Guzman had seized from
the sailors of Jimenez, refitted it, and set out on his
voyage, exploring the coast for some fifty leagues beyond
Santa Cruz (or La Paz), during which trip he suffered
innumerable hardships, and lost many of his men from
sickness. The news of his own death reached Mexico,
and his wife sent two ships and a caravel to look for him
and bring him back. His wife's letters, together with
others from the royal audiencia and the Viceroy Don
Antonio de Mendoza, urging his return as very necessary,
decided Cortes to abandon further explorations, and
after leaving Francisco de UUoa in California, he returned
to Acapulco in the early part of 1537.

He sent three ships, the Santa Agneda, La Trinidad,
and the Santo Tomas, back to Francisco de Ulloa in

6o Letters of Cortes

May of that same year, which after some fruitless cruising
about, returned to Acapulco, the whole venture having
cost Cortes some two hundred thousand ducats {Noticia
Hisiorica. Lorenzana Cartas de Cortes, edition 1776). A
royal cedilla, dated April i, 1539 from Saragossa, pro-
vided for the payment of this claim, but remained inef-
fective (Alaman, Dissertazioni. V. Italian translation

1859).
Thus the only results obtained from these various

undertakings were debts, and he complained that he had

so many that he was obliged to raise money, even on his

%\ife's jewels. He wrote in despair to the Emperor that

it was easier to fight the Indians than to contend with

His Majesty's officials, and after years of litigation, during

which the royal authorities seemed to study how best to vex

and circumvent him, and after the series of useless but

costly expeditions in the Pacific, he started on his second

journey to Spain, which was to be his last.

A very different reception from the former one awaited
him, for the Emperor was coldly civil, and the Court
in consequence was colder. His constant complaints
and demands for satisfaction fell upon deaf or weary
ears, for Court favours usually reckon more with present
than with past services, and there was nothing more to be
obtained from Cortes, who was broken in health and no
longer young. At this time, too, Spain was all aflame
with excitement over the brilliant achievements of
Pizarro in Peru, which eclipsed the familiar exploits in
Mexico, now grown stale.

He joined the unsuccessful expedition sent against
Algiers in 1541, in which the ship on which he and his
sons Martin and Luis sailed was wrecked, together with
eleven galleys of Andrea Doria. They barely escaped
with their lives, and the five famous emeralds, which
constituted an important item in his fortune, and which
he always carried on his person, were lost.

Marques del Valle 6i

The supreme slight of leaving him out of the council
of war, summoned to consider the plan of the campaign,
was at this time put upon him, and, to his boast that with
his Mexican veterans he could take Algiers, one of the
generals superciliously replied, that fighting the Moors
was different work from killing naked Indians. His
situation became less and less worthy, and an anecdote,
dramatically illustrating the depth to which he sunk, re-
lates that after vain efforts to get a hearing from the
Emperor, he thrust himself forward to the steps of the
royal carriage, where upon perceiving him the Sovereign
haughtily exclaimed, "And who are you?" to which
Cortes proudly answered, "Sire, I am a man who has
given Your Majesty more provinces than you possessed
cities." What happened next we are not told. If it
were true, the incident would picture eloquently the
degradation of the greatest captain of his age, forced
to waylay his Sovereign at his carriage steps like the
meanest beggar. There is no evidence forthcoming,
however, to show that any such dialogue was ever spoken.
Those who have believed and repeated this story, —
and they are many, — have done so on the sole authority
of Voltaire, with whom it apparently originated. {Essai
sur les McBurs, cap. 147.) He does not indicate from what
source the information reached him. The scene as de-
scribed seems to epitomise a very tragedy of disappoint-
ment and humiliation, so despite the staring stamp of
fiction it bears, it will doubtless continue to pass for
history when less dramatic facts are consigned to f orget-
fulness. Voltaire sceptically sneered at the credulity of
the Spaniards, which enabled them, in the heat of the
fight, to see St. James and St. Peter hovering over the
Mexican battlefields but he himself had no difficulty in
beholding Cortes in such a singularly improbable situa-
tion as this story depicts, though indeed nothing that is
told of the appearances of those holy apostles seems

6a Txttcrs of Cortes

further beyond the limits of credibiUty. As an un-
heeded suppHant, the Marques suffered snubs enough,
without fictitious situations being invented to illustrate
his fallen state. One last effort to attract his Sovereign's
attention to his claims, and secure the fulfilment of the
royal grants and promises, was made in the following
pathetic letter, — the last he ever wrote to Charles V., —
to which no response was ever made :

Sacred Catholic Ccesarian Majesty:

I thought that the labour of my youth would have pro-
cured me repose in my old age, and thus for forty years I
have given myself to God's ser\-ice, deprived of sleep, eating
poorly, and even at times not eating at all, with my arms
always at my side, myself exposed to dangers and my fortune
sacrificed to bring into His fold the sheep of a distant and
unknown hemisphere, of which we even had no record, and
to magnify the name, and extend the patrimony of my King
by conquering and bringing imder his royal yoke and sceptre
the great kingdoms and dominions of barbarous peoples.
And this I have done at my own expense, unaided in any way,
— nay rather hindered by emulous rivals, who like leeches
have sucked my very blood.

My hardships and vigils are sufficiently recompensed by
God, in that He chose me for this. His work, and though
people may attribute some merit to me, it will be clearly
seen that not without reason did Divine Providence choose
the meanest instrument for its greatest work, so that to God
alone might be the glory.

As for the remuneration due me from my King, I have
ever been confident that, coeteris paribus, it would not be less
for being in Your Majesty's reign ; for never did these king-
doms of my native Spain, to which these benefits accrue,
possess so great and catholic a prince, so magnanimous and
powerful a King. Thus when first I kissed Your Majesty's
hands, and presented the fruits of my labours, you showed
appreciation of them, and demonstrated intentions to recom-
pense me with honours which, as it seemed to me, they

Marques del Valle 63

were not equivalent to my deserts, Your Majesty knows I de-
murred at accepting.

Your Majesty commanded, however, that I should accept
them, saying they were not in payment for my services, but
to demonstrate your disposition to favour me, for Your Ma-
jesty would do as those who when shooting with the crossbow,
begin by firing beside the mark, but end by piercing the
bull's-eye, for the favours Your Majesty conferred upon me
were outside the mark, but would improve until they struck
the bull's-eye of my deserts. I was also assured that nothing
should be taken from me, and that I must accept what was
given me; hence I kissed Your Majesty's hands in gratitude.
When you turned your back, all that I had was taken from
me, nor were Your Majesty's promises to me fulfilled, for
since Your Majesty has such a good memory, you will not
have forgotten that besides these words and the promises
Your Majesty made me, I possess still more and greater ones
in Your Majesty's letters, signed with your Royal name.
If my services up to that time merited such acts and the
promises Your Majesty made me, they have not since then
diminished, for I have never ceased to increase the patrimony
of these kingdoms, and had it not been for the thousand ob-
stacles opposed to me, I would have accomplished as much
since I received Your Majesty's favours, as I had before done
to merit them. I do not know wherefore the promised benefits
are now withheld, nor why I am deprived of those I possessed.
And if it be said that nothing has been taken since I still
possess something, I reply that to have nothing, or to have
useless possessions, is one and the same thing, for what I
have produces me nothing; better were it to have nothing
at all than to have to use its profits to defend myself against
Your Majesty's fiscal officers, which indeed is harder than it
was to win the country from the Indians. Thus my labour
has procured me peace of mind for having done my duty, but
has brought me no profit, for not only am I without rest in
my old age, but work on until my death, should it not please
God to finish me now; for he who is so occupied in defending
his body must needs neglect his soul.

I beseech Your Majesty not to requite such conspicuous

64 Letters of Cortes

services with so small a recompense, and since it must be
believed that this is not Your Majesty's fault, let it be known ;
for, this work which God has accomplished through me is so
great and marvellous, and its fame has spread so far through
all your kingdoms, and through all Christendom, and even
amongst the infidels, that everywhere the dissension between
the Royal fisc and me is a subject of scandal. Some blame
the fiscal officers, others blame me; but since the blame suffices
neither to deprive me of the compensation nor to take from
me my life, my honour, and my estate, (since none of this
is done), it is clear that the fault is not mine. No one im-
putes it to Your Majesty, for did you wish to deprive me of
all you had given me, the power to do so is yours, and nothing
is impossible to your wish and power. To say that a form
is sought in which the intention may be realised, does not
sound credible, for it suffices for a King anointed of God to
declare "thus I will and thus I command," for all to be ac-
complished without regard to forms.

I beseech that Your Majesty may be pleased to explain
in Madrid your intention to requite my services, and I now
recall some of these to your memory. Your Majesty told
me you would order the Council to despatch my affairs, and
I thought this order was given since Your Majesty said
that you desired there should be no contention with the
fiscal officers. When I asked for information, they told me
I must defend myself in a suit against the claim of the fiscal
officers, and abide by the sentence of the Court. This seemed
to me to be grave, and I wrote to Your Majesty at Barcelona,
begging that if Your Majesty was pleased to enter into liti-
gation with your servant, that it should be before judges who
were above suspicion, and that Your Majesty should order
others to sit with those of the Council for the Indies, and
jointly reach a decision. Your Majesty was not pleased to
do this, though I cannot divine the cause, since the more
numerous the judges the better would be their decision.

I am old and poor, with more than twenty thousand
ducats of debts in the kingdom, besides a hundred more which
I brought or were sent after me, and of which I also owe some-
thing, for they were borrowed to be sent to me. And all draw

Marques del Valle 65

interest. During the five years which have elapsed since I
left home, my expenses have been great, for I have main-
tained my three sons at Court, without once leaving, and
besides them men of learning, procurators, and solicitors,
who were all employed that Your Majesty might make use
of them. I also assisted in the expedition to Algiers. It
seems to me the fruit of my labours should not be thrown away,
or left to the decision of a few, without my again begging that
Your Majesty should be pleased to allow that all your judges of
the Council should understand this case and decide it justly.

I have heard that the Bishop of Cuenca desired more
judges than there are, because it is against him and the
licenciate Salmeron, the new auditor of the Indian Council,
that I am contending for sums of money, with interest, of
which they deprived me when they were judges in New Spain,
and it is clear that they cannot be asked to decide against
themselves. I have not wished to recuse them in this case,
because I always believed Your Majesty would not permit
it to reach this stage, but since Your Majesty does not please
to increase the number of judges, I am forced to recuse the
Bishop of Cuenca and Salmeron, which I do unwillingly as it
wastes time. This is the most damaging thing for me at
sixty years of age, and, after five years' absence from home.
I have but one son to succeed me, and though my wife is
young enough to bear more, my age leaves little hope, and
should it please God to dispose of this one before the suc-
cession, who will profit by what I have acquired? My very
memory were lost in the succession of women. Again and
again I implore Your Majesty to associate other judges with
those of the Council ; since all are your servants to whom the
direction of your Kingdoms and your Royal conscience is
confided, so also may they be trusted to decide upon Your
Majesty's grant to your vassal of a part of all which he won
for Your Majesty, without labour or cost to your Royal Person,
nor the responsibility of directing nor the expense of paying
the men, who did the work, and who so loyally made over to
Your Majesty, not only the country he conquered, but a vast
quantity of gold and silver and jewels which he obtained as
spoils.

VOL. I— s

66 Letters of Cortes

May Your Majesty also be pleased to order the judges to
give their decision within a certain time Your Majesty shall
fix and without delay. This will be a great grace to me, for
waiting is my loss, as I must return home, being now no
longer of an age to travel from inn to inn, but rather to with-
draw and settle my account with God, for it is a long one,
and little life is left me to discharge it; better to lose my
estate than my soul.

May God our Lord guard the Royal Person of Your
Majesty, with the extension of your Kingdoms and glory as
Y'our Majesty may desire.

From Valladolid, the 3rd of February, 1544.

Your Catholic Majesty's very humble ser\-ant and vassal,
who kisses your Royal hands and feet.

The Marques del Valle.

No reply necessary, is the laconic annotation at the
bottom of the last page of this letter.

The marriage arranged for his daughter with a son of
the Marquis of Astorga was broken off, the bridegroom
withdrawing because the full amount of the stipulated
dowTy was not forthcoming, and after this mortification,
Cortes obtained permission to return to Mexico, travelling
first to Seville, where he was accorded a public reception.
His rapidly failing health made it apparent that his end
was approaching, and prompted him to withdraw for
quiet to Castelleja de la Cuesta, a small town near Se-
ville, where he died in the house of a magistrate, Juan
Rodriguez, in the Calle Real, on the 2nd of December,
1547, attended by his son Don Martin.

Fernando Cortes w^as a man of medium height, deep
chested and slender limbed; his complexion was rather
pale, and his expression was serious — even sad, though
the glance of his eyes, which in repose were impenetrable,
could be kindly and responsive. His hair and beard were
dark and rather scanty.

Marques del Valle 67

Trained from his youth to the exercise of arms, he
was a most dexterous swordsman, very Hght on his feet,
and at home in the saddle.

His speech was cakn, nor did he ever use oaths or
strong language, nor give away to exhibitions of temper
though a mounting flush and the swelling veins of his
forehead betrayed his mastered passion when he was
vexed, while a characteristic gesture of annoyance or
impatience was the casting aside of his cloak.

He dressed with exquisite care and great sobriety,
eschewing any excess of ornament. One splendid jewel
adorned his hand, a gold medal of the Blessed Virgin,
with St. John on the reverse, hung from a finely wrought
gold chain around his neck, and just under the feathers
of his cap w^as also a gold medal; these were his only
ornaments. He had some knowledge of Latin, and many
of the psalms, hymns, and parts of the Church liturgy,
which he knew by heart, he was fond of reciting.

Though careless of his food, he was a great eater, but
moderate in drinking, and no one could better withstand
privations than he, as was constantly shown on his long
marches. His chief relaxation was games of chance, in
which he indulged habitually, but dispassionately, making
either his winnings or losses a subject for jokes and
laughter. When strict laws were enacted suppressing
gambling in Mexico, his enemies alleged that he himself
violated the law, and that the tables and cards were
always ready in his own house.

One of the most notable things in his last will is the
mention of his doubts about the right of holding slaves.
He admonishes his eldest son to look well into the ques-
tion, and if it should be decided by competent opinion
that the practice was wrong, he must act in accordance
with strict justice ; meanwhile he must give great attention
to the welfare and education of his people. He left a
foundation and endowment fund for the hospital of Jesus

68 Letters of Cortes

{la Conccpcion) in Mexico, and for a college and monastery
at Coyohuacan, but the funds ran short, and only the
hospital was really estabHshed according to his intention.
Masses were directed to be said at his father's tomb, and
two thousand masses were provided for the souls of those
who had fought with him in the conquest, a provision
which cannot be considered in excess of their probable
spiritual necessities.

In his wAW it was provided also that his body should
be buried wherever he died for a period of ten years, at
the expiration of which time his remains were to be taken
to Mexico, to be there entombed in the monastery he had
founded in Coyohuacan; consequently his body was
first laid to rest with fitting ceremonies in the family
Chapel of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia, in the Church of
San Isidro at Seville.

The following epitaph was composed by his son Martin :

Padre, cuya suerte impropiamente
Aqueste bajo mundo poseia,
Valor que nuestra edad enriquecia

Descansa ahora en paz, eternamente.

(Andres Calvo, Los Tres Siglos dd Mexico.)

There his body lay, until by order of his son Don
Martin Cortes, second Marques del Valle, it w^as removed
in 1562 to Mexico, but, contrary to the provisions in the
will, the place of sepulture was chosen in the monastery
of St. Francis in Texcoco, where his mother and one of
his daughters were already buried.

In 1629 Don Pedro Cortes fourth Marques del Valle
died in Mexico, and with his death the male descendance
of Cortes came to an end.

It was decided between the Viceroy, the Marques de
Cerralbo, and the Archbishop of Mexico, D. Francisco
Manso de Zufiiga, to translate the body of the Conqueror

Marques del Valle 69

to the capital and bury it together with that of his last
descendant in the Church of St. Francis.

An elaborate funeral procession was organised, which
set forth from the Cortes palace headed by all the re-
ligious associations and confraternities, carrying their
respective banners, after which followed the civil tribu-
nals. Next came the Archbishop accompanied by the
cathedral chapter in full canonicals. The body of Don
Pedro Cortes was exposed to view in an open coffin carried
by knights of the chapter of Santiago, while the coffin of
his great ancestor covered with a black velvet pall was
borne by the royal judges, escorted by standard bearers
carrying a white banner on which were embroidered the
figures of the Blessed Virgin and St. John; another dis-
playing the royal arms of Spain and a third of black
velvet showing the arms of the Marques del Valle. Mem-
bers of the University followed, and the procession closed
with the Viceroy and all his court with an escort of
soldiers carrying arms reversed and banners trailing.
This funeral pageant — probably the most magnificent
ever seen in the new world — advanced to the accompani-
ment of muffled drums and solemn chan tings, halting at
six different places for brief religious rites.

During more than a century and a half the bones of
Cortes were left undisturbed, until in 1794 they were
moved once more, and this time to the hospital of Jesus
of Nazareth, which he had founded and endowed, and in
whose chapel a monument was prepared to receive the
body, which was coffined in a crystal case riveted with
silver bars. Would that this translation had been the
last, and that the pilgrimages of this poor body had
ended within the walls its owner's piety had built.

During the period of unrest which followed immedi-
ately upon the establishment of Mexican independence,
a design was said to have been formed by some " patriots "
to rifle the tomb, and scatter the conqueror's ashes to

70 Letters of Cortes

the winds, of which profanation the authorities were said
to be aware, but either unwilhng or unable to prevent it.
Others contrived to forestall the threatened violation,
and from 1823 the body of Cortes disappeared. Senor
Garcia Icazbalceta WTOte to Mr. Henry Harrisse upon the
subject saying:

The place of the present sepulture of Cortes is wrapped in
mystery. Don Lucas Alaman has told the history of the
remains of this great man. Without positively saying so, he
lets it be understood that they were taken to Italy.

It is generally believed that the bones of Cortes are in
Palermo. But some persons insist that they are still in Mexico,
hidden in some place absolutely unknown. Notwithstanding
the friendship with which Senor Alaman has honoured me, I
never could obtain from him a positive explanation; he would
always find some pretext to change the conversation.

Sefior Alaman's description of what occurred in 1823
is substantially as follows:

Early in the year 1822 discussions began in the Mexi-
can Congress, in which the project of destroying the
monument in the hospital (of Jesus) chapel was mooted ;
in the month of August of that year, Father Mier, in the
hope of forestalling the intended desecration, proposed that
the monument should be transferred to the National ]\Iu-
seum. The following year, 1823, w^as marked by the trans-
port to the capital of the remains of the patriots who had
proclaimed the independence of 1810, and certain new^spa-
pers published violent articles, inciting the people to cele-
brate this event by rifling the tomb of the Conqueror, and
burning his body at St. Lazaro. Fearing the execution of
this threat, which would have left an indelible stain on the
national honour, the Vicar General directed the chaplain
of the hospital to conceal the body in a secure place, and
both Sefior Alaman himself and Count Fernando Lucchesi,
who represented the Duke of Terranova's interests in

Marques del Valle 71

Mexico at that time, assisted at the temporary hiding
away of the remains under the steps of the altar. The
bust and arms of gilded bronze were sent to the Duke of
Terranova in Palermo, and the dismantled monument
remained in the chapel until 1833, when it also disap-
peared (Alaman Dissertazioni sulla Storia del Messico
Dissert. V., Italian translation by Pelaez, 1859).

Thus far Senor Alaman is as explicit as possible, but
concerning the final resting place of the body he says
nothing whatever on his own account, closing the sub-
ject by introducing a quotation from Dr. Mora (who,
he says, was the first to publish these facts) , which states
that "afterwards the remains were sent to his family."

In the collaborated work published under the special
direction of Don Vincente Riva Palacio, entitled Mexico
a Traves los Siglos, it is stated in a note on page 353 of
the second volume, that Cortes's body was sent to the
Duke of Monteleone in Italy in 1823. {''fueren rimitidos
a Italia a la casa de los Duques de Monteleone''). In the
chapters of the fourth volume, which chronicle the events
of the year 1823, no mention is made of this occurrence,
which it would surely seem was of sufficient importance
to merit notice. Neither Mr. Prescott nor Sir Arthur
Helps, nor any other as far as I can discover, has left a
record of any attempts to clear up this mystery.

If the remains of the conqueror were taken to Palermo
or consigned to the family of the Dukes of Monteleone,
there is no record of the transaction, nor is any tradition
of it known, even by hearsay, to the present members of
the family, or to the keepers of the family archives.

Not the least of the glories of the Pignatelli family,
which has kept its place among the foremost of Sicily
and Naples, is their descent from the Spanish conqueror
of Mexico, and it seems inadmissible that the body of
this illustrious ancestor should arrive at Palermo as
recently as 1823, be buried nobody knows where, and no

72 Letters of Cortes

record of any sort be kept of such an important and
interesting event in the annals of the family. The ab-
sence, therefore, of any record, or even oral tradition,
of such an event seems to be at least a negative proof
that it never took place. It is quite thinkable that the
custodians of the hospital chapel, where the body lay in
1823, should have invented and circulated the fiction of
its transport out of the country to convince the intending
desecrators that it had been put beyond their reach;
meanwhile it was easy to hide the coffin in some secret
place, doubtless within the walls of the hospital itself,
where it may still lie in a forgotten grave. The legend of
the transport to Italy and the burial in Palermo being thus
started and doubtless diligently spread with a purpose,
encountered no contradiction, and, with the death of the
necessarily few persons who possessed the secret, all
knowledge of the facts was lost, while the invention passed
from legend into history, and has been commonly ac-
cepted and quoted. Sefior Garcia Icazbalceta's letter
to Mr. Harrisse does, however, state that " some persons
insist that they are still in Mexico hidden in some place
absolutely unknown," and these persons are doubtless
right. Why Seiior Alaman should have made any
mystery about the matter, even with his friend Icazbal-
ceta, does not seem easy to explain, especially if he knew
the body to be in Palermo. If Sefior Alaman knew the
body was in Mexico, but wished to encourage the belief
that it was in Palermo, his reticence with Seiior Garcia
Icazbalceta is explicable, for it must also be borne in
mind that he never positively said he knew it to be in
Palermo, — ^he merely gave it to be understood that he
thought so by quoting Dr. Mora, who stated the fact
without offering any proofs of its truth. If he wished
what he knew was not true to be beHeved, his regard for
truth forbade his going to the length of a positive state-
ment, but he might feel justified for motives which, what-

Marques del Valle 73

ever they were, in the first half of the last century, have
no existence now, in encouraging the spread of the Pa-
lermo legend. Or it may also well be that Sefior Alaman
was partly convinced by what he heard that the body
was in Palermo, but in the face of the contrary assertions
made by some persons, and the absence of any authentic
record of the transaction, was reluctant to commit him-
self to a positive statement.

The Republic of Mexico has emerged from its state
of infancy, and has successfully survived the periods of
trials, and perilous struggles, which all new nations must
traverse to reach the state of permanent and prosperous
peace, indispensable to national greatness. The four
hundredth anniversary of the discovery and conquest,
which looms in sight, will find her in the foremost ranks
of the republics of the New World, and these great events
will doubtless be commemorated by becoming celebra-
tions, which shall suitably revive the memory of the
great Conqueror, and his intrepid allies of Tlascala.
If there be any clue or trace by which the body of Cortes
can be found, it should be diligently followed up, until
the remains are recovered and restored to the place of
honour in the national pantheon.

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF FERNANDO
CORTES MARQUES DEL VALLE DE OAXACA

75

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

IN the name of the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, who are three persons and one, only, and
true God Whom I hold, believe, and confess to be my
true God and Redeemer, and of the most glorious and for-
tunate Virgin His Blessed Mother, our Lady and Advocate.
Let all who may see this Testament know that I, Don
Fernando Cortes, Marques del Valle de Oaxaca, Captain
General of New Spain and the South Sea for the Caesarian
Majesty of the Emperor Charles, fifth of this name, my sover-
eign Prince and Lord, being ill, but in such free and sound
judgment with which it has pleased God to endow me, fearing
death, as is natural to every creature, and desiring to prepare
myself against such time as it may please God to call me
hence, do for the good of my soul, and the peace and discharge
of my conscience, execute, and recognise this document which
I do make, and order as my last testament and final will, in
the following form and manner.

I. First I direct that, should I die in the Spanish realm,
my body shall be interred in the church of that parish wherein
shall stand the house in which I die, and that there it shall
remain until such time as it may please my successor to trans-
port my bones to New Spain; this I charge and direct him to
do within ten years and sooner if possible, and that he trans-
port them thence to my town of Coyoacan, and there give
them sepulture in the monastery of the nuns called La Con-
cepcion, of the order of St. Francis which I have founded in
my said town, with provision for the interment of myself
and my successors.

II. Item: I direct that should it please God that my end
and death should take place in this realm of Spain, my burial
shall be attended to, according to the provisions of those

77

78 Letters of Cortes

gentlemen whom I have named my executors, or of any one
of them who may be present, and that everything suitable
thereto be decently ordered.

III. I direct, furthermore, that the beneficed clergy and
chaplains of the parish church of the town or place where I
die shall carry my body, and that all the monks of the re-
ligious Orders shall also march in procession, headed by the
cross, and assist at the obsequies which shall be celebrated;
and I direct that the usual alms may be given to the said
religious orders according to the judgment of my said
e.Kecutors.

IV. Item: I direct that, on the day of my death, fifty
poor men be pro\'ided out of my means with full gowns of
grey cloth, with large hoods of the same, and shall accompany
my funeral procession bearing lighted torches, after which
each shall receive one real.

V. Item: I direct that on the same day of my funeral,
if it should take place before midday, and otherwise on the
day following, all the masses possible shall be said in all the
churches and monasteries of the said city or town or place
of my death; and besides these masses, five thousand more
shall be said on successive days in the following manner:
one thousand for the souls in purgatory, two thousand
for the souls of those who lost their lives ser\'ing under
me in the discoveries and conquests which I made in New
Spain, and the two remaining thousand for the souls of all
towards whom I have obligations of which I am ignorant or
forgetful; those which I do know and remember shall be
discharged as I direct in this my testament. My executors
shall recompense the said five thousand masses according to
custom, and I beg them in all that concerns my funeral to
suppress the worldly pomps, and devote money rather to the
good of souls.

VI. Item: On the said day of my burial my executors
shall furnish all my own servants and those of my sons with a
suitable mourning dress, as they shall judge proper, and during
six succeeding months, my servants shall continue to receive
their usual stipend with their food and drink, exactly as
during my lifetime. Those who do not remain in the service

Last Will and Testament 79

of my son and successor Don Martin shall receive their pay-
ment in full on the day they leave his service.

VII. Item: I direct that when my bones shall be trans-
ported to New Spain for interment in the monastery church
of Coyoacan, which I direct to be built, that this shall be
done by order of the Marquesa Dona Juana de Zuniga, my
wife, and in such wise as she or my son or my successor at
that time, whichever of them may be living at that time, shall
direct.

VIII. Item: I direct that the bones of Doha Catalina
Pizarro my lady mother, and those of Don Luis my son,
which are buried in the monastery church of St. Francis in
Texcoco, and those of Dona Catalina my daughter which are
in the monastery of Cuahuanavac (Cuernavaca) , be brought,
and buried in my sepulchre in the said monastery which I
found in my town of Coyoacan.

IX. Item: I direct that the hospital of Our Lady of the
Conception, which I directed to be founded in the city of
Mexico in New Spain, shall be finished at my cost according
to the plan drawn. The principal chapel of its church shall
be completed according to the model in wood made by Pedro
Vasquez Jumetrico, and the plan described in the letter which
I sent to New Spain, in this present year 1547. For these
costs I set apart especially the rents deriving from my shops
and houses in the said city, situated in the square and street
of Tacuba and San Francisco, and in the street which unites
them; this income shall be given exclusively to the said works
until they are completed, nor shall my successor employ
them for any other purposes. But it is my wish and will
that the expenditure be made by my successor as patron of
the hospital, and, when the works are finished according to
the said plans, that the same rents shall be devoted to pro-
viding revenues for the wants of the administration, and the
direction of the said hospital, following in this institution
the order laid down by me before a notary public. Failing
this, I direct that the same system of administration be
adopted as that which obtains in the hospital of the Five
Wounds, founded by Dona Catalina de Rivera (may she
have glory), for maintaining the administrators, chaplains.

8o Letters of Cortes

and other officers and sen'ants attached to the said
hospital.

X. Item: I direct that in the chapel of the monastery
of St. Francis in Mcdcllin, where my father Martin Cortes is
buried, the memorial masses, for which I leave provision,
shall be celebrated yearly in perpetuity. My successor or
successors shall for all time see to this, for which purpose I
name, as patron of the said chapel, my son and successor
Don Martin Cortes, and after him those who shall follow him
in the succession. He, holding the said patronage (or those
who succeed him by right of primogeniture), may name as
his substitute for the exercise of the said patronage such
person or persons as may be desirable for such time as may
please him, and hold full power to revoke such appointment
whenever he may so desire, substituting any other who is
deemed suitable. Such person, thus appointed, shall, in the
absence of the head of my house, hold the same power and
faculties as the said patron himself, for such time as his
appointment may last.

XI. Item: I declare that since Almighty God Our Lord
has vouchsafed to advance and favour me in the discovery
and conquest of New Spain, and I have always received from
His merciful hand very great favours and mercies, both in
my victories over the enemies of His Holy Catholic Faith,
and in the pacification and settlement of those kingdoms,
from which I hope great service may accrue to God our Lord,
I order that the following works be undertaken in grateful
recognition of those said favours and mercies, and also to
discharge and satisfy my conscience for whatsoever faults
or burdens may lie thereon, but of which my memory no
longer takes account to enable me to specify them:

XII. I order and direct that, in addition to the aforesaid
hospital which I have already provided shall be built in the
city of Mexico, a monastery of the nuns of the Conception,
belonging to the Order of St. Francis, shall be built in my
town of Coyoacan, in such place, and according to such plan
as I shall indicate; and should I not leave these instructions,
then I direct that my successor or his deputy shall found and
build it, providing a community \\'ith such endowment as

Last Will and Testament 8i

shall be required. I designate the said monastery in my
town of Coyoacan as my place of sepulture, which I direct
shall be in the major chapel of the church of the said monas-
tery, where no other persons except my legitimate descend-
ants may be buried.

XIII. Item: I direct that a college shall be built in my
said town of Coyoacan for students of theology and canon
law; that there may be learned persons to officiate in the
churches, and to train and instruct the natives in our Holy
Catholic Faith. This college shall be provided with faculties,
and receive a number of students, and the rules and consti-
tutions which I shall establish for it shall be observed. It
shall be built in such place, and after a plan suitable to the
said institution, and with such regulations and ordinances
as I shall prescribe, and, if perchance I should not explain
these, I direct that my successor or his deputy shall organise
and build it, adopting the statutes, constitutions, and or-
dinances governing the college of Santa Maria de Jesus founded
in this city of Seville. The costs and expenses of the said
college shall be covered and supplied from the rents which
will be designated.

XIV. Item: I destine, for the endowment of the said
hospital of Our Lady of the Conception which I am building
in Mexico, two front ground plots of the houses of Jorge
Alvarado, and of the treasurer Juan Alonso de Sosa, between
my house and the aqueduct which extends to the houses of
Don Luis Saavedra, which being now unoccupied, I assume
the obligation to construct such buildings as may amply
suffice for the said endowment. During such time as the
said buildings are not constructed, the said hospital shall
receive support from my estate to the amount of one hundred
thousand maravedis of good money. I direct that the said
endowment shall be furnished as is provided, and with the
conditions I shall hereafter state, and I direct that my suc-
cessor shall be free at any time to allot the said hospital
some part of the said one hundred thousand maravedis in-
come, in lieu of the said buildings, should he so desire, affect-
ing this substitution in any assured manner he may wish.

XV. Item: as, likewise, I have stated and bound myself

82 Letters of Cortes

to furnish to the said hospital lands near the city of Mexico,
producing three hundred thousand fanegas of wheat, as is
set forth in the said endowment to which I refer, I direct
that this obhgation be fulfilled, and I assign for such pur-
pose a piece of land, which I own, at the extremity of Coy-
oacan, situated between that town, and the river which
crosses the road leading to Chapultepec. Should this not
suffice, the amount shall be completed, at the option of my
successor, from other lands where I have had, and have, my
plantations, situated beyond the said river in the direction of
Chapultepec. Should my successor or successors at any time
wish to substitute for the said hospital, as required by the
endowment, other lands producing three hundred thousand
fatiegas of wheat, this may be done, on condition that
they are as good as those I have designated. As I do
not know whether some part of the lands, indicated and
named by me for the said hospital, may not belong to me as
Seiior (proprietary lord) of that place, or by other title, I
direct that any such be restored to their owners, who shall be
paid the full value to their satisfaction. As I have worked
such lands, profiting b}^ them, under the belief that I might
do so with a clear conscience, I direct that the rightful owners
of the said lands be repaid the amount it may be shown I ha\e
derived from them, so that my conscience may be clean; my
said successor shall be obliged, should these lands be shown
not to belong to me, to make good the amount provided in
the act of endowment to the said hospital.

XVI. Item: I declare and say that, as has been stated,
the construction of the said hospital in Mexico shall be com-
pleted in the said city as above mentioned out of the rents of
the lands and buildings I own in the square and streets of
Tacuba and San Francisco; and this construction completed,
the income from the said shops and buildings shall revert to
my successor or successors. They shall henceforth devote
this entire sum annually to the construction of the monastery
of nuns, and of the above mentioned college which I directed
to be founded and built in my said town of Coyoacan, using
and distributing the sums necessary to put them in possession.

XVII. And, that the works of the said hospital, mon-

Last Will and Testament 83

astery, and college above described may be speedily completed,
and the service of God our Lord thereby promoted, as it is
hoped, I direct that, in addition to the four thousand ducats
derived from the buildings already indicated for the works of
the said hospital in Mexico, and the said college and monastery
in Coyoacan, six thousand ducats more shall be used from
my estate each year from the date of my death, so that in all
there will thus be ten thousand ducats devoted to this pur-
pose ; four thousand from the income of the shops and buildings
for the work on the said hospital until it is finished; three
thousand for the construction of the said monastery of nuns ;
and the remaining three thousand for the building of the said
college. When the work on the said hospital shall be ter-
minated, the four thousand ducats set apart therefor shall
be divided into equal parts, and devoted to the works on the
said monastery and college, so that each of these may thus
dispose of five thousand ducats yearly. These works being
completed, in order to relieve my successor of the obligation
of continuing from thenceforth forever to give the six thousand
and the four thousand ducats from the income of the said
shops and buildings, these sums shall be distributed as follows:
one thousand ducats for the endowment and estates of the
said monastery of n^ms which, as has been said, I directed to be
founded in my town of Coyoacan; two thousand ducats for
the endowment and expenses of the said college which I
directed to be founded in the same town ; and another thousand
ducats do I adjudge to the said hospital of the Conception
which I directed to be founded in the said city of Mexico.
This last shall be with such condition that, by a yearly pay-
ment of this sum, the obligation assumed by me and my
successor and successors (to build for the endowment of the
said hospital certain houses, and two front ground plots of
the houses of Jorge de Alvarado and the treasurer Juan de
Sosa) may be acquitted, as well our obligation to provide one
hundred thousand maravedis of annual income to the said
hospital should we fail to construct the said buildings. This
is also that I and my successor and successors may be released
from the obligation, which I assumed when I endowed the said
hospital, of giving it certain lands near the city of Mexico,

§4 Letters of Cortes

yielding three hundred fanegas of wheat ; for it is my wish and
intention that, by giving the said hosjiital an annual income in
perpetuity of one thousand ducats, I and my successor and suc-
cessors may be released from all claim upon the said houses,
or in lieu of them, the said one hundred thousand maravedis,
and the said lands producing three hundred fanegas of wheat ;
all of which both in whole and in part I direct shall return
to the possession and enjoyment of my successor and suc-
cessors. Should the said hospital not desist from such claim,
I direct that this provision and endowment of one thousand
ducats yearly income shall be of no value or effect, but this
sum shall revert to my successor or successors.

XVIII. Item: I say that, inasmuch as it is seen by ex-
perience that the revenues from lands and houses, both
in Spain and in New Spain, increase daily, my shops and
buildings, above mentioned, may become of greater value,
and yield an income exceeding the amount of four thousand
ducats which I devise and give forevermore, as is attested
by the endowments of the said monastery of nuns, the said
college, and the said hospital, and it is my will that should
the said shops and buildings become more valuable and yield
more rent, that the excess of value and rent, over and above
the said four thousand ducats, shall be di\'ided as follows:
two parts of the said excess to go to the said college and of
the remaining two parts one each to the said monastery of
nuns and to the said hospital.

XIX. Item: I say and direct that, by virtue of the grant
made to me by the Emperor our King, and Lord of the tow^ns
therein mentioned, his rights of patronage over the churches
of the said towns belong to me in conformity with a clause of
the said grant, in which it is declared that I possess in those
towns all the rights, contributions, and customs, and every-
thing else which His Majesty has or may have in the other
towns of New Spain, which, excepting the mines and salt,
remain the property of his royal crown. Thus, except these
two things specified in the grant, the right of patronage
belonging to him, belongs for the same reason to me. In
addition to the grant made me by His Majesty, I hold the
said rights of patronage by concession of His Holiness, the bull

Last Will and Testament 85

for which is deposited with His Majesty, and his Council for
the Indies, that they may recognise as valid the said concession.
I desire, and it is my will, that my successor or successors,
may have and preserve forever the said right of patron-
age. As, at the time I solicited the concession from His
Holiness, it was my intention that the natives of those towns
should be better instructed in the doctrines of our Holy Catholic
Faith, I direct and charge Don Martin, my son, and successor
and successors, to have very special care of this, conferring the
benefices of the said towns upon able men of good life and
example, with the obligation to daily instruct the said natives;
and that they take great care to oversee and ascertain very
particularly how this is done and fulfilled. As the said con-
cession from His Holiness says that I and my heirs and suc-
cessors should have and receive the tithes and first fruits from
the said towns, comprised in the right of patronage for the
endowment of the churches, I direct that dowries, vestments,
and other things necessary for the cult, and the wine for the
administration of the Sacraments, be aU provided for out of
the said tithes and first fruits. During such time as this is
not complied with, through no fault of my successor or suc-
cessors, the said tithes and first fruits may not be employed
otherwise, for, from this time forth and forever, I destine and
apply these to provide the said churches with all whatsoever
belongs to or concerns them in so far as may be necessary for
the purposes above expressed, the control and enjoyment of
the said right of patronage remaining to my successors the
same as it has been conceded to me; hence it is my will that
whatever may remain of the said titles and first fruits of these
churches, over and above the expenses above set forth, being
properties dedicated to God Our Lord, and to His holy temples,
shall be used and distributed in works of His service, and for
no other purpose I say therefor and direct that such surplus
of tithes and first fruits, after each year's expenditure for
the above mentioned objects, shall be adjudged perpetually
by my successor or successors or their deputies as fol-
lows: — one half to the endowment of the said college, and
the remainder divided equally between the said monas-
tery, and the said hospital, in the same proportion as the

86 Letters of Cortes

division which is made of the rents from the said shops and
buildings.

XX. Item: I direct that ten thousand ducats be paid to
my wife, the Marquesa Doiia Juana de Zuniga, which sum
I received as her dowTy ; forasmuch as I received and expended
them, and they belong to her, I direct that they be paid with-
out dispute or question from the first and best properties of
my estate.

XXI. Item: I say that, since, between Don Pedro Alvarez
Osorio, marques de Astorga, and myself, it has been arranged
and concerted that his eldest son and heir, Don Alvaro Perez
Osorio, should marry Dona Maria Cortes, legitimate daughter
of myself and the Marquesa Dona Juana de Zuniga, my
wife, and the conditions of this marriage have been set forth
in a contract, it is my will that it should be fulfilled according
to the stipulations; and as I have agreed and promised one
hundred thousand ducats as a dower for the said Dona Maria»
my daughter, of which the marques de Astorga, conformably
to the said stipulations, has already received twenty thousand
ducats, I desire that before ever\i;hing else the remaining
eighty thousand ducats be paid from the estates of the said
marquesa, my wife, and from my own to complete the
said dower, at the time and in the manner provided in the said
contract. These sums shall be charged against the legitimate
share of our estates which would belong to my daughter Dona
Maria.

XXII. As I am obliged to dower Dona Catalina and Dona
Juana, the legitimate daughters of myself and my wife, the
said marquesa, I direct that, in discharge of this obligation
as best I can, each of them shall receive fifty thousand ducats,
making one hundred thousand for both; for which purpose I
transfer this sum irrevocably during my Hfetime to Melchor
de Mojica, my administrator and secretary, who is here present
and accepts the same in my name. These hundred thousand
ducats may be taken from the joint estate of the marquesa
my wife, and mine, and charged against the share her legiti-
mate daughters would have of our estate. Failing the neces-
sary sum, at the time of my death, to pay these hundred
thousand ducats, I desire that whatever is wanting shall be

Last Will and Testament 87

paid by my son and successor, Don Martin, or whatever other
successor, by setting apart from my estate fifteen thousand
ducats yearly, until the full amount of one hundred thousand
ducats be made up, as said above.

I, Melchor de Mojica accept and receive the said dower of
one hundred thousand ducats in the name of the said ladies.
Dona Catalina and Doha Juana, as set forth in this article,
and, in witness and confirmation of the same, I here sign
my name.

Melchor de Mojica.

XXIII. Item: I direct, and place as a charge on my suc-
cessor, and on the income of my estate, an annual pension of
one thousand ducats in gold to each of my natural sons, Don
Martin and Don Luis Cortes, for their lifetime, or until each
of them may have an income of over five thousand fnaravedis.
I direct that these sums be paid, free from any tax of any sort,
annually; and from this time forth I establish them as theirs,
from the best share of my rents. I direct that my sons, Don
Martin and Don Luis, be subject and obedient to my successor
in everything, in which they honestly may, as to the chief and
head of the family from which they spring, and that for no
reason shall they disobey or fail in their respect to him, but
shall assist and ser\'e him in everything not contrary to God
Our Lord, or His holy religion, and Catholic Faith, or against
their rightful king ; and I direct that should either show notori-
ous disobedience or disrespect, such as may be proven as such,
they shall lose the benefits and substance they receive, and
shall be considered as strangers to my house and children.

XXIV. Item: I direct that marriages for my daughters.
Dona Catalina and Dona Juana. are to he arranged only upon
the counsel, and with the approval, of the marquesa, their
mother, and of my successor. Should either of them marry
outside this condition, my successor shall not be obliged to
pay anything of the dower I have provided.

XXV. Item: I direct that Dona Catalina Pizarro, my
daughter by Leonor Pizarro, wife of Juan de Salcedo, a citizen
of Mexico, be given the full amount of the income and increase
of the cows, mares, and ewes which I gave her when she first

SS Letters of Cortes

came to the kinp[dom of Mexico, together with the income
from the town of Chinantla, and all else that I assigned for her
marriage dower and delivered to the said Juan de Salcedo,
husband of Dofta Leonor Pizarro, her mother. And, as I
have received from the increase on the said ranches a number
of horses, bulls, rams, and monies, I direct that this amount
be repaid out of my estate, to my daughter Dona Catalina,
according to the account presented by the said Juan de
Salcedo, at the price they were worth when I received them.
I confess, now, that two receipts, made to me by Hernando
de Saavedra, and Gil Gonzale de Benevides, for a certain
amount in gold for some cows which I sold them at four differ-
ent times, as will appear from the said receipts, really belong
to the estate and increase of my daughter Dona Catalina,
although they are made out to me; and I therefore direct
that they be paid to her with interest, being hers, and coming
from her estate. The amounts of the said receipts are two
thousand pesos of good gold for the one, and two thousand
seven hundred and fifty for the other.

XXVI. Item: I acknowledge another receipt from Fran-
cisco de Villegas, citizen of Mexico, given me for two thousand
pesos in gold for some cows, of which, according to Juan de
Salcedo's statement, he only owes one thousand, as he did not
receive the full number of cows sold to him, which coming
also from the property of my daughter. Dona Catalina, I order
be paid to her.

XXVII. Item: I also acknowledge another receipt, of
four hundred pesos, made me by Bernardino del Castillo,
for mares, likewise coming from the property of my daughter.
Dona Catalina; I order that this be paid to her.

XXVIII. Item: I acknowledge another receipt, for two
thousand four hundred pesos in gold, given me by Alonzo
Ddvalos, for twelve mares and six fillies, coming from the
property of my daughter, Doiia Catalina; I order that this be
paid to her.

XXIX. Item: I declare that all the cows and flocks at
Matalango belong to my daughter. Dona Catalina, and to
the said Leonor Pizarro, besides all the mares and colts at
Taltizapan, which bear her brand of a large E on the haunch.

Last Will and Testament 89

XXX. Item: I declare that, of the receipt made by Gil
Gonzale de Benevides with Hernando de Saavedra, which,
as above said, belongs to my daughter. Dona Catalina, three
hundred and fifty castellanos in gold have been paid, which I
received in four horses which I possess; I order that this be
paid to the said Dona Catalina.

XXXI. Item: I declare that I gave a final quittance to
the said Juan de Salcedo, citizen of Mexico, husband of the
said Leonor Pizarro, stating that I gave and give it him in full
receipt for all accounts he had with the estate and goods of
Dona Catalina Pizarro, my daughter, which were delivered to
him. I say that I gave the said final quittance, notwith-
standing I was not disposed to give it without the accounts
and payments, at the instance and entreaty of the said Juan
de Salcedo, to save him the necessity of rendering the said
accounts during my absence; for which he promised, under
oath, that, on my return from my journey, he would present
them in full, without fraud nor taking anything from the said
Dona Catalina; and this he did, with Andres de Tapia present
as witness.

XXXII. Item: I direct that, when it may please Our
Lord that the said Dona Catalina, my daughter, should marry,
she shall do so on the counsel, and with the consent of my
successor, whom I beg to take special care to provide that his
sister Catalina marries as becomes the honour of our house
and her own.

XXXIII. Item: I direct that my natural daughters,
Dona Leonor and Dona Maria, shall receive as dowries, each,
ten thousand ducats from my estate, recommending them to
marry with the counsel and consent of my said successor, whom
I charge as in the former article touching his sister. Dona
Catalina. Should either or both die before marrying, or
desire to enter the religious life, let them receive for their
support and expenses sixty thousand maravedis yearly; the
remainder reverting to my son and successor Don Martin,
and those who follow him.

XXXIV. Item: I direct that, as some persons have
served on my farming estates, and I do not know whether
they have been paid, the conditions agreed upon with me or

9© Letters of Cortes

my administrators at the time of their engagement shall be
ascertained, and that they be paid as the books of the ad-
ministration show to be just, without wearying them with
more controversy than is required to discover the truth.
This to be done on the conscience of my successor and exe-
cutors, without their being obliged to give any other account
than that they have paid them.

XXXV\ Item: I direct that all debts as shall appear from
my account books, owing to people in my ser\'ice, both here
in Spain and in New Spain, shall be paid in accordance with
the conditions established when they entered my service,
and that this be done without delay or dispute. As Bernar-
dino del Castillo was engaged in taking account of all that
the licenciate Don Juan Altamirano has furnished and sent
me, I direct that the statement of the said licenciate be
accepted.

XXXVI. Item: I direct that all my debts of wiiatever
nature public and private, when shewn to be justly mine, be
paid without delay or process of law, but quickly and without
incurring expense. As I may have debts for which I have no
written proof, I direct that all such, if shewn to be mine, even
without writing, be paid without process of law, up to the
amount of one hundred pesos in good money.

XXXVII. Item: I say that I have spent large sums of
money in New Spain and its provinces, which I conquered
and brought under the dominion of the royal crown of Castile,
both in the conquest, as well as in the armadas which I sent
elsewhere, such as those I sent to Amaluco (Molucca Island),
under the captain Alvaro de Saavedra, and one sent to Hibu-
eras, with settlers commanded by Geronimo Prima, and
another to the same province of Hibueras, of which Francisco
de las Casas was captain. All were sent by order of our lord
the Emperor, as may be seen from his royal instructions and
signature, and as His Majesty, to discharge his royal conscience,
and as a most Christian prince, sent me his royal cedilla, which
is among the papers in possession of the licenciate Juan Alta-
mirano, and an order of his royal council, authorised an
account to be made with me of all I have spent in the said
conquests and armadas, I direct that this account be made

Last Will and Testament 91

and presented to His Majesty, since he was pleased to order
payment to me. This sum I wish and direct to go to my
heir, the said Don Martin Cortes, my son and successor in
my house and estate, and to the successors who shall follow
him.

XXXVIII. Item: I direct that the said Don Martin, my
son, (and those who may succeed), shall have the following
upon his conscience: His Majesty granted me the towns,
places, and lands of the estate I have and own in New Spain,
with all the rents, rights, tributes, and contributions belonging
to His Majesty, exactly as the former rulers used to receive
them before the conquest. I have used all diligence to verify
the said rents, tributes, rights, and contributions which those
rulers enjoyed, and I was careful to continue the former masters
where such tributes and rents are usually paid, in agreement
with whom I have collected the said rents and tributes until
today. I direct that, if it shall at any time appear that I was
badly informed as to the above, and have taken anything not
belonging to me, of which I was until today unaware, thinking
I took my rights, it shall be rectified.

XXXIX. Item: as there have been many doubts and
opinions as to whether it is permitted with a good conscience
to hold the natives as slaves, whether captives of war or by
purchase, and up till now this has not been determined, I
direct my son and successor Don Martin, and those who may
follow him, to use all diligence to settle this point for the
peace of my conscience and their own.

XL. Item: I direct that, as in some places on my estates
pieces of ground have been taken for orchards, vineyards,
cotton-fieldsjand other purpose, it must be ascertained whether
such lands belonged to the natives of those towns, and, if so, I
order that they be restored, with all such profits their owners
might have derived from them, compensating, and receiving
in total, discharge of all the rents and tributes which they
were obliged to pay for them; and, in the case of Bernardino
del Castillo, my servant, to whom, in past years, I gave a piece
of land, situated on the outskirts of Coyoacan, on which he
built a sugar mill, I order that this be done should it appear
that the land belongs to third parties.

92 Letters of Cortes

XLI. Item: I direct that, as I have received, in addition
to the tributes paid me by vassals, other services both personal
and real, and as on this point also opinions differ as to whether
such maybe accepted with a good conscience, this matter shall
be investigated, and, if it appears that I have received more
of such services than belonged to me, those natives shall be
paid and indemnified in all that it shall appear they may justly
claim.

XLII. Item: I direct that all my account books be
examined, especially a large one in possession of Francisco
de Santa Cruz, which my secretary and scrivener Juan de
Rivera began, but which passed to the said Francisco de Santa
Cruz, who keeps my said books. I order that all debts found
therein, due to all persons whatsoever shall be paid, and like-
wise that all debts due to me be collected; and, I order that
the said Francisco de Santa Cruz render his accounts for
the time he has had charge of my business, and everything be
settled with him, and that all on our side and the other be paid.

XLIII. Item: I say that, inasmuch as I loaned Bernar-
dino del Castillo at the time of his marriage one thousand
castellanos in gold and silver, besides six hundred more in
furnishings for the shop next to the clock tower, as will appear
from a receipt signed with his name, and deposited with the
licenciate Juan Altamirano, he shall be credited with what I
owe him for the time of his sendee which may be determined
by a receipt signed by me when I left Coyoacan, and the
remainder shall go to my successor.

XLIV. Item: I direct that, for as long as Dona Elvira
de Hermosa, daughter of Luis de Hermosa, citizen of Avila,
who is now maid to the marquesa, my wife, shall remain in the
ser\'ice of any of my daughters or of the wife of Don Martin,
she shall be paid twenty thousand maravedis annually; and
should she desire to become a nun, or to live unmarried in
this city, she shall be paid from my estate two hundred
thousand maravedis besides giving her the twenty thousand
maravedis annually.

XLV. Item: I direct that, for as long as my cousin Cecilia
Vazquez Altamirano may desire to remain -^ith the mar-
quesa, my wife, or with any of my daughters, or the wife of

Last Will and Testament 93

Don Martin, she shall enjoy the same respect I have ever
shown her; and I desire that, wherever she may choose to live,
one thousand maravedis shall be surely and regularly paid
her annually from my estate.

XLVI. Item: I direct that two hundred thousand mara-
vedis be paid from my estate to each of the two daughters of
the administrator, Juan Altamirano, my cousin, for their
dowry, and marriage portion.

XLVII. Item: I direct that, for as long as the said Juan
Altamirano may wish to retain the charge of the administra-
tion in my household, this shall be allowed him, and, with the
profit assigned him by my cedula, shall be continued to him
for as long as he may wish.

XLVIII. Item: I direct that three hundred thousand
maravedis be paid to Dona Beatriz, and Dona Luisa, her
sister, daughters of the marquesa my wife, to enable them
to marry, two hundred thousand to the said Dona Luisa and
to the said Dona Beatriz one hundred thousand maj-avedis.

XLIX. Item: I direct that, if Maria de Torres, now
duenna with the marquesa, should wish to remain in her
service, or in that of any of my daughters, or the wife of
my son and successor, she be paid annually fifteen thousand
maravedis, and should she want something for herself, she
shall be given one hundred thousand whenever she wishes,
in recognition of her past services, without subtracting any
sums she may have received in that time, nor the fifteen
thousand which I provide for the time she shall continue in
service.

L. Item: I say that, as in the year 1542, while I was in
Barcelona, Gonzalo Diaz my equerry was short forty ducats
of my money which was placed in his hands, I ordered this
amount to be deducted from his pay, and, although he sus-
tained no harm, I now pardon him, and direct that no deduc-
tion of this sum be made in his accounts, and if any has already
been made to cancel it, and pay him in full; besides which,
I leave him as a mark of favour one hundred ducats in gold,
to be paid him from my estate.

LI. Item: I direct that, although in the year 1544 my
groom of the chambers gave me his note for forty-four

94 Letters of Cortes

thousand five hundred and twenty maravedis for the value of
certain pieces of silver for which he could not account when
he was my plate-butler, for which he therefore owed me,
nevertheless in consideration of his service, I forgive him
that obligation, and pardon him, and he shall receive back
his note, and be paid twenty ducats in gold from my estate.

LII. Item: I direct that, besides paying Geronimo de
Andrada what is owing on his account he be given from my
estate thirty ducats in gold, which I leave him in recognition
of his services.

LIII. Item: I say inasmuch as there is a suit with the
wife and heirs of the licenciate Nunez, member of the council,
who was my solicitor, concermng certain of our accounts,
which showed him my debtor for large sums, and although I
am well informed, and have a clear conscience, nor on my side
has this suit been sustained through malice, but only to have
justice, that, nevertheless I direct, if the widow and heirs
of the licenciate Nunez wish to settle our suit amiably, that
two accountants be chosen to act for them with two of mine,
to whom all necessary papers shall be given, and whose de-
cision shall be accepted as final without other legal action.
Should they not so agree, let the suit go on its ordinary
course, as my only wish is to know the truth, and have justice
done. Whatever sums may result from the suit, shall be
distributed as is provided in a memorandum in the hands
of my secretary, Melchor de Mojica; and the same shall be
done with the sums received from the suit now pending with
Francisco de Arteaga Martinez.

LIV. Item: I direct that thirty thousand maravedis be
given as a marriage portion to a girl who is, and has been
since childhood, a servant in my household and who is said
to be a child of one Francisco Barco, born in Tehuantepec.

LV. Item: I direct that a suit of mourning, such as I
have ordered to be given my servants, shall be furnished to
Juan de Quintanilla, who came from Valladolid to this city
of Seville to assist and treat me during my illness, and is
present at my death. In addition, I leave him in recognition
of his services fifty ducats in gold from my estate.

LVI. Item: I direct that, besides paying what is owing

Last Will and Testament 95

to my page, Pedro de Astorga, he shall be given from my
estate thirty ducats in gold, which I leav^e him in recognition
of his services, during my illness; and, in consideration of this,
I charge and direct my son and successor, the said Don Martin,
to retain him in his household and service in the position I
now have him.

LVII. Item: I charge and direct the said Don Martin
my son and successor, to retain in his household and service,
my valet Antonio Galvarro, as I have him, feeling confident
that he will prove a good and loyal servant to him, as he has
been during the time he has served me.

LVIII. Item: I direct that Diego Gonzalez, citizen of
Medellin, at present living in Seville, shall receive a robe and
a cloak of black cloth, some stockings, a doublet, and a cap;
besides this twenty ducats in gold, all of which I leave him
because of the devotion he has shown, and does show, to my
family.

LXIX. Item: I charge and direct the said Don Martin,
my son and successor, to always retain my accountant Melchor
de Mojica in his service, for as he has so well and faithfully
served me during the short time he has been here in my house-
hold, that I am confident he will henceforward give good ser-
vice and counsel to my son Don Martin in the affairs and
matters which he has handled with me. I charge and direct
the said Melchor de Mojica to do this, for I place this con-
fidence in him, and I wish and direct that he continue to hold
the charge and position he does at present, for such time as he
can, and the marques may desire.

LX. Item: I direct that the hospital of Amor de Dios
be paid the alms which the accounts of Don Juan Galiano
may show are owing, as I have done each month since I have
been in Seville; besides which I order one hundred ducats in
gold to be paid from my estate.

XLI. Item: I direct that the accounts of Master Vicente
(for works executed in my house and room) be inspected, and
paid, after deducting such sums as he has alread}"- received.

LXII. For as much as Don Martin Cortes, my son and
my wife's, the said Marquesa Dona Juana de Zufiiga, who is
my successor, is less than twenty-five years old, and more

96 Letters of Cortes

than fifteen, I desire, and it is my will, that he remain under
control of the guardianship and care of such tutors and ad-
ministrators as I herein name for my children, until they at-
tain the age of twenty-fiv'e years completed. During the
interim, let him not withdraw from or evade the guardianship
and control, so that, until he complete the said age, as I have
herein established, his property and estate may be the more
advantageously increased, and administered, and all that I
direct and dispose by this testament may be the better and
more quickly complied with. Thus from the direction and
administration of the properties of my son, the said Don
Martin, as well as for the control and care of the persons and
goods of my legitimate daughters, Doiia Maria, Dona Catalina,
and Dona Juana, I name and appoint for tutors and guardians,
the most illustrious gentlemen, Don Juan Alonso de Guzman,
Duke of Medina Sidonia; Don Pedro Alvare Osorio, Marques
de Astorga; and Don Pedro de Arellano, Count de Aguilar.
I entreat the same to graciously accept the said tutelage and
guardianship, and, in accepting and receiving it, they may
remember and respect what I beg and entreat them, for these
my said children are of their blood and lineage, by protecting
whom they do but fufill their duty as gentlemen, and profit
their own lineage and quality. In recognition of their services
and of their rights conformably to the law to be recompensed
from my estate for the said tutelage and guardianship, I direct
that, for each year during which their lordships exercise their
functions, they shall receive fifty marks of silver, which I
entreat them to agree to, and to accept in consideration of the
causes and reasons above mentioned. I direct that my son and
successor, the said Don Martin, shall, until he has completed
his twenty-fifth year, receive twelve thousand ducats yearly
for his support, and that of his servants. The remainder
of my income may thus more fully and quickly provide for
all that I have ordered and directed in this my testament.
As the towns, properties, engineering works, mines, and
other works belonging to my estate, to which, after my
death, the said Don Martin, my son, will succeed, are divided
and scattered through different provinces of New Spain, distant
one from another, it is necessary that I, as one who knows

Last Will and Testament 97

by experience what is necessary, should indicate persons capa-
ble of carrying on the administration. Hence I beg and en-
treat the said gentlemen, tutors, and guardians to approve the
appointments and selections of persons which I shall leave,
drawn up and signed with my name; for I am positive that
the said haciendas will be directed and administered to the
best advantage, and their lordships relieved of the labour and
responsibility of selecting persons for this purpose.

LXIII. Moreover, I leave and name as my successor over
my household and estate, Don Martin Cortes, my son by the
Marquesa Dona Juana de Zuniga my wife, and after him his
descendants and other persons named in the institution of
my entail, which I institute by the authority of the emperor
and king our Lord, according to, and by the form, and with
the conditions, and all else contained in the said act of institu-
tion. Further, if it be necessary, I do now renew the insti-
tution of the said entail in the said Don Martin, my son, in
the manner above set forth, and by the said authority and
licence which I possess, and I leave as my universal heir the
said Don Martin, my son, successor to all my properties, goods,
landed estates, and rights, and whatever else I may possess
outside the said entail; and I leave as my heirs the above
mentioned Dona Maria, Dona Catalina, and Dona Juana, my
legitimate daughters by the said marquesa my wife, for
what I leave them as their rightful dowries, ordering that
they content themselves therewith, without pretending to
other rights or claims of any sort against my estate, on the
ground of their legitimacy.

LXIV. To cover all expenses of this my testament, and to
fulfil its provisions, I name and appoint as my executors in
Spain the most illustrious lords, Duke of Medina Sidonia,
Marques de Astorga, and Count de Aguilar, to all three of
whom jointly, and to each singly, I give full powers to use by
their authority whatever sums from my estate are required
to provide for, and carry into effect, all the provisions of this
my testament. And, for all that touches the administration
in New Spain and those provinces, I name and appoint as my
executors, the Marquesa Dona Juana de Zuniga, my wife,
and the lord bishop of Mexico, Fray Juan de Zimiarraga, and

VOL. I.— 7

qS Letters of Cortes

Father Domingo de Betanzos, of the Order of St. Dominic,
and the licenciate Juan de Altamirano, all at this present time
in New Spain. And, I revoke every and all other testaments
which I may have made and delivered, and I desire, and it is
my will, that none be executed other than this present writing;
likewise I revoke whatsoever codicil or codicils I may have
made and delivered either in writing or by word of mouth in
the past. And this being seen and read in my presence with
all that it contains, I sign it with my name, by my hand on
each of its pages which are in all ten, all of which signatures I
have written in the presence of the licenciate Infante.

Done at Seville on the eleventh day of the month of Octo-
ber, the year from the birth of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, one thousand five hundred and forty seven.

Item: I say that, as, in one article of this my will, I have
disposed and ordered that the four thousand diicats, from
the rent of the shops and btdldings which I have in Mexico,
should, after the works on the said hospital, monastery, and
college I have ordered founded be entirely devoted to the
endowment, and property of the said college, monastery, and
hospital to which I refer, should it at any time happen that
the said shops and buildings should produce less than this
sum of four thousand ducats, and my will and intention be
defeated, I order that in such a year of shortage, my successor
shall complete the amount from his estate, so that the said
four thousand dticats may be paid in full without any diminu-
tion. This page is added to the other ten, done and signed
on the same date. The Marques del Valle. Witness by his
lordship's command, the licenciate Infante.

By his lordship's command,

Melchor Mojica.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

99

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

CONCERNING the importance of the Five Letters of
Relation of Hernando Cortes, which are now pubHshed
altogether in an English translation for the first time,
it may be permitted to quote a passage from the historian
Dr. Robertson, whose part in the discovery of the first and
fifth letters, here presented, was such as to give singular interest
and value to his opinion.

"Our knowledge of the events which happened in the con-
quest of New Spain is derived from sources of information
more original and more authentic than that of any transaction
in the history of America.

"The letters of Cortes to the Emperor Charles V. are an
historical monument, not only first in order of time, but of
the greatest authenticity and value."

Dr. Robertson's appreciation was shared by his contem-
poraries, and has been confirmed by subsequent historians,
who have drawn from the letters, as from an original source,
many of their important facts, have appealed to them for
confirmation of information procured from other sources,
and have used them as a very touchstone of truth, in
accepting or rejecting statements made by other early writers,
even when these latter were eye-witnesses of the events they
described.

From the beginning, Cortes adopted the plan of reporting
faithfully and minutely to the Emperor, each incident, its
causes and its consequences, and of recording his impressions
of all that he saw in his strange surroundings, with the purpose
of putting before his sovereign an accurate and complete
picture of the momentous events then unrolling in the New
World ; and he has done this with perfect frankness and great
simplicity, in letters which are minute but not wearisome,

lOI

I02 Letters of Cortes

nor wanting in a certain literary excellence. His corre-
spondence was voluminous, but, amongst all the others, both
for the importance of the events recorded, as well as for their
volume, the five letters or "relations" (Relaciones) as they are
called, in winch he recounts all that happened from the date
of his sailing from Cuba in 1519, till his return from the ex-
pedition into Yucatan in 1526, are those which the English
historian justly described as "an historical monument of the
greatest authenticity and value."

The first of these letters has never been found, and by some is
believed, perhaps to have been either the one suppressed by
the Council for the Indies at the instance of Panfilo de Nar-
vaez, or the one taken by Juan de Florez from Alonzo de
Avila, and thus prevented from reaching the Emperor. It
bore the date of July 10, 1519, and left Vera Cruz on the
1 6th of that month with the two envoys, Alonzo Hernandez
Puertocarrero and Francisco de Montejo. This letter was in
duplicate, as was likewise the letter of the magistrates of the
newly founded colony, which was shown to Cortes before it
was sent. Bernal Diaz del Castello, who was one of the signers
of the joint letter, says that Cortes had omitted from his own
letter the account of the expeditions of Francesco Hernandez
de Cordoba, and of Juan de Grijalba. The letter of Cortes and
that of the magistrates confirmed one another, as they were
intended to do, and, according to Bernal Diaz, that of the
magistrates was the more detailed of the two; hence it is,
historically, the more valuable. The only important events
which had happened up to that date were the change in the
character and objects of the expedition, and the founding of
Vera Cruz, and on these points Cortes and the magistrates
were in perfect accord.

The search for this missing letter having been given up in
despair, it remained for the perspicacity of Dr. Robertson to
divine, that, as the Emperor was about leaving Spain for
Germany at the time the envoys from Vera Cruz arrived with
the letters, they might still be found in some of the Imperial
archives, and he accordingly undertook a search, for which
all necessary facilities were obtained by the British Ambas-
sador in Vienna. This was crowned with a dual success, in

Bibliographical Note 103

that a certified copy by a notary public of the letter of
the magistrates of Vera Cruz was discovered and, at the
same time, the Fifth Letter of the Relaciones was also
unearthed.

The letter of the magistrates of Vera Cruz supplies the place
of the still missing First Letter of Cortes and serves to complete
the series of five Relaciones. It was first published in the
Coleccion de Documentos Ineditos para la Historia de Espana
of Navarrete, Salva y Baranda, in 1844. Senor Alaman
reproduced it in the first volume of his Disertaciones sobre la
Historia de la Republica Mexicana.

The Second Letter was dated from Segura de la Frontera,
October 30, 1520. It contained the first account ever written
of the wonders of Mexico and the adventures of the Spanish
conquerors in the newly discovered countries, and awakened
the liveliest interest in Spain, where it was first published by
Juan Cronberger, a celebrated German printer in Seville,
November 8, 1522. It was again printed the following year
by another German, George Coci, in Saragossa.

The Third Letter was dated from Coyohuacan, May 15, 1522,
and was likewise first printed in Seville by the same Juan
Cronberger, March 30, 1523.

The Fourth Letter was dated from the city of Temixtitan
(Mexico), October 15, 1524, and was first published in Toledo
by Gaspar de Avila, and again in Saragossa, July 8,
1526.

All of these editions are folios in gothic lettering and are
now extremely rare.

The Second, Third, and Fourth Letters, which were the only
ones known until Dr. Robertson's fortunate discovery com-
pleted the series, have been translated into Latin, French,
Italian, English, and German, at various times.

Of the Second and Third Letters a Latin translation made
by Pietro Savorgnani of Forli, secretary to the bishop of
Vienne (Dauphine), was dedicated to Pope Clement VII. and
first published in Nuremberg in 1524. This translation was
reproduced in the work entitled: De Insulis nuper inventis,
which first appeared at Cologne in 1532 and was afterwards
included in the Novus Orbis of Simon Grineo, of which one

104 Letters of Cortes

edition was issued at Basle in 1555 and another at Rotterdam
in i6i6.

Nicholas Liburno (or Liburnio) translated the Latin text
of Savorgnani into Italian, publishing his work in Venice in
1524. This Italian translation was again published by
Ramusio in the third volume of his work, Delle Navigationi
et Viaggi, in Venice (edition of 1606).

A German translation of two of the letters was made by
Xysto Betuleio and Andrea Diethero and pubHshed in Augs-
burg in 1550. (Garcia Icazbalceta, Documenios, vol. i.,
p. xxxvi.)

Another German edition was published in Heidelberg in 1779.

The first Spanish edition of the Second, Third, and Fourth
Letters was published by Andres Gonzalez de Barcia in the
first volume of his work entitled Historiadores Primitivos
de las Indias Occidentales, Madrid, 1749.

In 1770, Archbishop Lorenzana of Mexico, afterwards
Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, published the Second, Third,
and Fourth Letters, together with other documents and his
commentaries, under the title of Historia de Nueva Espaiia,
and of this work an indifferent second edition was issued in
New York by INIanuel del Mar in 1828.

Mr. George Folsom, secretary of the New York Historical
Society, translated Archbishop Lorenzana's text into English
in 1843.

The Vicomte de Flavigni dedicated to the Marquise de
Polignac a very free translation of the three letters then
known, in a book published in Paris about 1778 (there is no
date given), entitled Correspoiidance de Fernand Cortes avec
VEmpereur Charles V. sur la conquet du Mexique: reprinted
in Switzerland, 1779. Such liberties were taken with the
Spanish text that Mr. Folsom, in his notice of this work,
rightly calls it rather a paraphrase than a translation.

The Fifth Letter, which was discovered in Codex CXX. of the
Imperial Library in Vienna, has no date, but a codex of the
sixteenth century in the National Library in the City of
Mexico bears the followdng: De la cibdad de Temixtitan desta
Nu£va Espana, a 3 del mes de Seiiembre, ano del nascimiento de
ntiestro Senor e Salvador Jesucristo de 1526.

Bibliographical Note 105

Three editions of the complete series of five Relaciones have
been published in Spanish: one is found in the first volume
of Historiadores Primitivos de Indias of Don Enrique de Ve-
dia, which is contained in Rivadeneyra's Bihlioteca de Autores
Espanoles, Madrid, 1877 ; another appears in the first volume of
the Biblioteca Historica de la Iberia, and the third is the ad-
mirable collection of the learned Don Pascual Gayangos of
the Spanish Academy, Cartas y Relaciones de Her nan Cortes
al Emperador Carlos V., published in Paris in 1866. The
same author made an English translation of the Fifth Letter,
which appeared in a single volume of the Hakluyt Society's
publications in 1868.

A French translation of the five letters was published by
Desird Charnay in Paris in 1896 under the title of Lettres de
Fernand Cortes a Charles Quint.

In preparing this present edition, a careful comparison has
been made of the various texts known, and, while idiomatic
differences have imposed certain rearrangements of form,
particularly in the matter of punctuation, and the suppres-
sion of many cumbersome repetitions, it has been sought
to leave to the letters their unique characteristics, due to
the personality of their author, and to the temper of their
times.

The Spanish language was not yet the strong and stately
vehicle of thought into which it was afterward shaped by gen-
erations of scholars, whose writings not only brought the Cas-
tilian tongue to a superlative degree of purity and perfection,
but also conspicuously enriched the universal patrimony of
literature. Fernando Cortes had but scanty learning, and
the conditions under which he wrote were little conducive to
the cultivation of literary style, but the absence of adorn-
ment, the precision of fact, and forceful terseness of expression
furnish his compositions with singular merit. The restraint
and self-control of which he was master appear in the equal
and passionless style of his writings; for he seems neither ex-
alted by success nor cast down by misfortunes, both of which
he describes with calm simplicity in language which is both
natural and fluent. Perhaps nowhere does the real superiority
and inherent strength of his character more plainly appear

io6 Letters of Cortes

than in those passages where he writes of the intrigues
and detractions of his enemies, men whose ambitions were
selfish and whose characters were vulgar and unscrupulous.
Judged by his letters alone, Cortes must be ranked high
amongst the Spanish-American discoverers and conquerors.
His rudely honest contemporary and faithful follower Bernal
Diaz del Castillo resented — and perhaps not unnaturally
— the scanty mention of the other officers and men of the
expedition, and, occasionally, in the course of his gossipy
chronicle, he breaks into acrimony over what seems to him
a cheating of others of their dues.

On the whole, however, Cortes was wise to eschew per-
sonalities in his reports, for no distribution of praise would
have satisfied his followers, and he would have merely risked
wearying the Emperor with a useless repetition of meaning-
less names. Cortes cannot be fairly reproached with self-
laudation; he evidently knew the value also of occasional
self-effacement, and he never loses sight of the high dual
mission with which he felt himself invested, — the spreading
of the Faith and the extension of the Spanish sovereignty;
while the glory of victory is invariably ascribed to divine pro-
tection or the inter\'ention of the saints, rather than to his
own courage or ability, and the fruits of his victories were
laid at the feet of his sovereign.

f The notes with which the present edition is supplied have
been carefully compiled from the best authorities, ancient
and modem. Among these authorities, the soldier chroniclers
contemporary with Cortes, and the Spanish priests in America
at the same early period, take the first rank, and some brief
notice of the character of these men, the circumstances under
which, and the motives for which, they wrote may be of
service in enabling the reader to estimate their testimony at
its just historical worth.

It should always, however, be borne in mind that the
letters of Cortes have the unique and superlative merit of
having been composed on the spot from day to day, in the
midst of the events in which their writer was playing the
chief part, and that they were destined for the Emperor alone,
hence misstatements of fact could only result from an inten-

Bibliographical Note 107

tion to deceive the Sovereign. The astuteness of Cortes would
seem to exclude the adoption of a short-sighted policy, which
would have foredoomed him to exposure and failure, and,
though the story of his dealings with Diego Velasquez, Pan-
filo de Narvaez, and the other Spanish officials with whom he
came in conflict, is told from his own point of view, the version
he gives cannot be essentially untrue in any important par-
ticular. His story of the conquest from 151 9 till 1527 is thus
told almost in the form of a diary, written at different times
and places, under varying circumstances of fortune, and as it
was written, so do we now read it.

The other conquerors, and the priests, wrote or supplied
material to others several years after the events they chroni-
cled, and under the influence of different motives, either
avowed or dissembled. These latter on some points give
to their histories the bias of special pleading, besides which,
in many instances, their manuscripts reached responsible
hands only after many vicissitudes, and, at times, only in
copies or translations, which may suggest reasonable doubts
of their entire authenticity. Whenever, therefore, a conflict
of testimony is found concerning any event described by
Cortes, modern historians have almost invariably decided
that his statements, on all points of which he had personal
knowledge, should be held to outweigh those of other writers
unless it conclusively appears that his conscious intention was
to mislead the Emperor.

The death of Montezuma is one of the few cases in which
it seems the decision should be against Cortes. With great
and perfect frankness he admits the murder of Quauhpopoca,
the torture and subsequent murder of Quauhtemoczin, and
he owns to a somewhat extensive catalogue of indefensible
crimes, but for Montezuma's death he refuses responsibility.
Yet, whether we consider the unanimous testimony as to the
trifling character of the Emperor's wound, the useless embar-
rassment his presence had become, the imprudence of leaving
him free in the capital, or the impossibility of carrying him cap-
tive out of it, and finally the contemporary Mexican versions
of his death, all the circumstances certainly point to the conclu-
sion that the royal captive died by the will of his conqueror.

io8 Letters of Cortes

(I)

FRANCISCO LOPEZ DE GOMARA

The Historia Getieral de las Indias and the Cronica de la
Conqnista de Nueva-Espana, which were published in Sara-
gossa, 1552, were at first received with the greatest favour
by the public, and other editions as well as translations into
Italian and French rapidly followed. This success, however,
was short-lived, as Gomara's facts and appreciations were
promptly impugned, first by Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who,
in publishing his book, called it The True History of the
Conquest, in contradistinction to Gomara's false and fanci-
ful one.

In 1553 t^6 Spanish Government took steps to suppress
the work, and withdraw it from circulation, imposing a fine
of 200,000 maravedis upon any one who should print or sell
it in the future. This rigid prohibition was not revoked until
1727. Concerning Gomara's birth and antecedents, nothing
is known, and, likewise, neither the date nor place of his death
is recorded: "He came like water and like wind he went."
He is said to have held the Chair of Rhetoric at the University
of Alcala, and afterwards to have passed several years in
Rome. In 1540 he entered the service of Fernando Cortes,
then Marques del Valle, and recently returned to Spain. Dr.
Robertson surmises that he then began his historical work,
under the inspiration, if not at the dictation, of his patron,
and this would seem to be likely. He is undoubtedly the
apologist of Cortes, and, although the latter was dead some
years when the work was published, the first part is
dedicated to the Emperor, and the second to Don Martin
Cortes, second Marques del Valle.

But, all reservations admitted, the work of Gomara il-
lustrates a most important and interesting period of history,
and, if he was constrained to treat his hero leniently, he
nevertheless had access to a mass of original information,
by which he profited with excellent results. His style is
agreeable and scholarly, revealing a writer of wide culture,
gifted with unusual knowledge of astronomy, geography, and
history. Although he never was in America (as far as is

Bibliographical Note 109

recorded), he has known how to lend the realism to his de-
scriptions which usually only an eyewitness can impart. When
not vindicating Cortes, Gomara has every claim to be ranked
amongst the most trustworthy of the early writers on Spanish-
American events, and his facts and descriptions generally
stand the test of comparison with authentic temporary records.

(2)

BERNAL DIAZ DEL CASTILLO

Bernal Diaz was a perfect type of the military adventurer
of his age, and first went as a private soldier to America in
1 5 14, under the command of Pedrarias de Avila, bound for
Darien. He next appeared in Cuba, where he was always
ready to join any expedition of adventure which might be
organised, and, indeed, he went on most of them, and was
one of the few who escaped from the disastrous exploration
conducted by Ponce de Leon on the Florida coast. He next
joined Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba on his journey to
Yucatan. He returned again thither the following year with
Juan de Grijalba, from whose expedition he arrived once more
at Cuba just in time to take service under Fernando Cortes.
Diaz was a brave soldier, popular amongst his comrades, and
esteemed by his commander, who some years later (in 1540),
recommended him to the notice of the Emperor, as did like-
wise the Viceroy Don Antonio Mendoza.

After the conquest, he received an encomienda in Guate-
mala, where he held the office of regidor of Santiago de los
Caballeros, where presumably he died. And this would have
been all there was to say about Bernal Diaz, had Francisco
Lopez de Gomara not published his history of the conquest
in 1552. His exaltation of Cortes, to the exclusion of other
members of the expedition, enraged the old soldier, living
in peaceful retirement on his estate at Chamula, and he re-
solved that he and his fellows, who had borne the burden of
the conquest, should likewise make good their just claims to
a share of the credit. It was a case of "mine enemy writing
a book," and the old veteran slashes his cultivated rival's
polished prose in the language of the camp. Thirty years

no Letters of Cortes

had then elapsed since the fall of the Aztec Empire, and Bernal
Diaz was no longer a young man ; nowhere does he say that
he had taken notes or memoranda of what happened from
day to day, and yet, were his chronicle a journal, its details
could hardly be more minute, nor its statements more em-
phatic. These were the great events of his life, worthy indeed
to be the great events of a greater man's life, and doubtless he
relived and rehearsed them constantly, and, being a man of
quick and careful observation, given to pondering and re-
flecting upon all that he saw and heard, gifted moreover with
a good memory, it is not so strange that in the quiet of his
last years the retired soldier could evoke the procession of
events in their perfect order.

He began writing in 1558, and his declared purpose was
to correct the mistakes and misstatements of Gomara, and
to show that not only had those under Cortes 's control shared
in the fighting, but had likewise been called into the counsels
of their chief. His indubitable claim upon Mexico's per-
petual gratitude is in his introduction of the orange-tree as,
when on Grijalba's expedition, he landed one day, and planted
eight orange seeds, which he brought from Cuba, all of which
grew. The Indians, seeing the strange little plants coming
up, carefully protected them from insects and other perils,
and from this casual little plantation the culture of the
orange-tree spread over all iierra caliente.

The father of Bernal Diaz was Francisco Diaz del Cas-
tillo y Gaban, and his mother was Maria Diez Rejon; as the
former held the post of regidor of the important town of
Medina del Campo, he must have been a man of some family.

The Verdedera Historia, as we have it, is incomplete, and
was printed not from the original, nor even from a certified
duplicate of it, but from a copy in possession of the councillor
Ramirez de Prado. The work was undertaken by F. Remon,
who died before its conclusion, so that it was passed on to
Fray Gabriel Adarzo de Santander, afterwards Bishop of
Otranto.

As literature, the work of Bernal Diaz ranks far below the
letters of Cortes, and shows the writer to be without instruc-
tion or culture. The narrative is involved, the mass of small

Bibliographical Note

III

details bewildering, while through all pierces the jealous
determination of a wounded vanity to assert its claims to
recognition. The stamp of perfect sincerity and frankness,
however, is upon the whole work, and its value as an historical
document, particularly when paralleled with the letters of
Cortes, and the chronicles of Gomara, is superlative and
unimpeachable.

Prescott describes Bernal Diaz as of "a poor and humble
family," but since his father held the office of regidor this can
hardly be exact, as such posts, especially in a town of the
importance of Medina del Campo, were not held by the poor
and humble. He himself claimed some kinship with Don
Diego Velasquez.

(3)

GONZALO FERNANDEZ DE OVIEDO Y VALDES

Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo was born of an illustrious
family in Asturias in 1478, and passed his early years at Court
as page to the Infante Don Juan, only son of the Catholic
Sovereigns. He spent some years in Italy in the service of
the King of Naples, but returned to Castile, where he became
custodian of the crown jewels, until he was sent as royal
inspector of the gold smelting in the Indies. After taking
part in Pedrarias de Avila's colonising expedition to Darien,
he returned and settled permanently in San Domingo.

Oviedo kept in touch with the Spanish Court and returned
several times to Spain, on one of which occasions, in 1526, he
published his Sumario, which was dedicated to the Emperor,
and dealt with the geography, climate, vegetation, animals,
and tribes of the American Colonies, and which met with a
popular reception from the public. The first volume of his
great work, however, Historia General de las Indias, in nine-
teen books, to which he had given years of careful labour, ap-
peared in 1535. The entire work is divided into three parts,
consisting in all of fifty books, and includes everything that
had already appeared in his Sumario. The second and
third parts are occupied with the conquest of Mexico, Peru,
and other South American countries. Oviedo, through his

112 Letters of Cortes

relations witli most of the prcat personages of his day and his
personal knowledge of the countries he describes, the events
he portrays, and the men who figured in them, collected an
enormous mass of data, which, however, he never properly
classified. He is, therefore, confused and confusing, self-
contradictory and something of a plagiarist, of whom it was
said that, not content with drawing his information from the
higher and more trustworthy sources, he did not scruple to
collect the gossip of the camp from common soldiers, and the
cancans of great mens' ante-chambers. Las Casas describes
his work as "a wholesale fabrication, and as full of lies as
pages." Oviedo and Las Casas were poles asunder, and the
good bishop was so averse to the sentiments and opinions of
his contemporary (so contrary to his own) that he could see
no good either in him or his work.

Despite the blemishes which mar his work, Oviedo must be
considered an astute observer, nor can it be thought that
he consciously or intentionally misstated facts. From the
same events, two different observers draw opposite conclusions,
and, in the study of historical records, their value may be
more accurately estimated by considering the character of
the medium through which they reach us.

0\-iedo died at Valladolid in 1559, while on a visit to
Spain to prepare for the publication of the remainder of his
work.

(4)

BERNARDINO DE SAHAGUN

The Historia Universal de Nueva Espafia of Fray Bernar-
dino de Sahagun serves as a most valuable text-book for all
students of Mexican antiquities.

The author was born at Sahagun, and entered the Francis-
can Order in Salamanca, where he studied at the University.
He went to Mexico in 1529, where he devoted his energies to
the conversion of the Indians. He entered upon this task
on the basis that, to convert the natives to Christianity, it
was first necessary to know them, to understand their language,
beliefs, and traditions, and, most of all, to be thoroughly versed

Bibliographical Note 113

in their ancient mythology, theology, and ritual. To acquire
such knowledge, he lived among the natives of Texcoco for
several years, and mastered their language and their hiero-
glyphic writings to such an extent that his own work was
originally written in the Mexican tongue.

His superiors did not give unqualified approval to the
publication of his MSS., the tendency being rather to obliterate
as far as possible all knowledge of ancient Aztec beliefs, with
a view to detaching the Indians entirely from the traditions
of their ancestors. Starting thus with a tabula rasa as it were,
it was thought that the work of conversion would progress
more rapidly. Fortunately this mistaken conception did
not lead to the destruction of the mass of unique information
which Fray Bernardino had accumulated, although his
manuscripts were widely scattered through various convents
of the Order.

Sahagun sent a statement of the nature and extent of his
labours to Spain, where it attracted the attention of the
President of the Royal Council for the Indies, at that time
Don Juan de Ovando, who fortunately perceived its value,
and caused the scattered manuscripts to be collected and
restored to their owner, at the same time directing that he
should return to Spain, and forthwith translate them into
Spanish. Sahagun was nearly eighty years of age at this
time, but he set diligently to work, and completed the trans-
lation, which was placed side by side with the original, and
the whole illustrated with an Aztec vocabulary. The entire
work, contained in two large folio volumes, was sent to Madrid,
from which time it completely disappeared, not to be seen
again for more than two hundred years, when the cosmo-
grapher Don Juan Bautista Mufioz unearthed it in the
Franciscan Library at Tolosa in Navarre.

The first publication, dedicated to Pope Pius VIII. and
edited by Carlos Maria de Bustamente, deputy for the state
of Oaxaca, appeared in Mexico at the cost of the national
treasury. One year later Lord Kingsborough introduced it
into the 6th volume of his magnificent work, under the
natural impression that he was giving it for the first time to
the public.

VOL. I. — 8

1 14 Letters of Cortes

(5)

BARTOLOM^ DE LAS CASAS

Fray Bartolomd de Las Casas, who later became Bishop of
Chiapa, was bom at Seville in 1474. His father went with
Columbus onhissecond voyage in 1493, and amassed sufficient
means to provide his promising son with a university edu-
cation at Salamanca. He was the first priest ordained in the
new world, where he went with Ovando in 1502. The suffer-
ings of the natives under the cruelties of the first colonists,
and especially the system of ripartimientos and encomiendas ,
so aroused the sympathies of the young priest that he dedi-
cated his life to their defence, and was the first to bear the
glorious title of Protector-General of the Indians, which
Cardinal Ximenez de Cisneros, regent in the absence of Charles
v., conferred upon him. He was indefatigable in his crusade
and not always discreet. After the failure of the native
colony entrusted to him, he retired to a Dominican con-
vent (which Order he entered) and devoted himself during
many years to various compositions in vindication of the
Indians and their violated rights. He enlisted his brethren
of the Order in his apostolate, and never during his long and
eventful life flagged in his zeal for the noble end he had set
himself. After refusing the bishopric of Cuzco, the richest
perhaps in the New World, he later accepted the poor diocese
of Chiapa. He died in July, 1566, at the age of ninety-two,
in the monastery of Atocha, at Madrid.

Las Casas barely tolerated Cortes, and, having known him
as an obscure young man of no importance, courting the
favour of Diego Velasquez in Cuba, he could never refrain
in later years, when extraordinary fortune had elevated him
at his former patron's expense, from recalling the humble
origin and many doubtful transactions of the great Con-
queror's youth. Indeed he treats Cortes throughout as a
mere lucky adventurer. Prescott says of him that he had
the virtues and faults of a reformer, being inspired by a great
and glorious idea which "urged him to lift the voice of rebuke
in the presence of princes, to brave the menaces of an
infuriated populace, to cross seas, traverse mountains and

Bibliographical Note 115

deserts, to incur the alienation of friends, the hostility of
enemies, to endtire obloquy, insult, and persecution. "

His great work, Historia General de las Indias, to which
he devoted himself during thirty years, while still in manu-
script, was largely drawn upon by different writers, notably
by Herrera, who incorporated a large amount into his own
work published in 1601. An edition of his works was pub-
lished in five voliunes at Madrid in 1876. His Brevisima
Relacion, widely read and translated into foreign languages,
was a terrible indictment of his countrymen and their deal-
ings with the natives. The integrity of his character, the
purity of his motives, and his apostolic virtues command
admiration, and, though his intemperate zeal in the cause he
championed troubled the serenity of his appreciations as an
historian, his statement of facts may be invariably trusted, and
his record of contemporary events is of unquestionable value.

(6)

MOTOLINIA

Toribio de Benevente is best known by his Indian name
(which he himself adopted) of Motolinia, meaning the "poor
man" (equivalent of the Poverello which was St. Francis's
dearest title). He was one of twelve Franciscans who first
came to Mexico in response to the request of Cortes, at the
close of the conquest (1523). He travelled from Mexico to
Guatemala and Nicaragua on foot, and knew the country and
its peoples as did few. His headquarters were at a convent
at Texcoco, where his life and energies were devoted with
success to teaching and converting the Mexicans. His
Historia de los Indias de Nueva Espana embraces first re-
ligion and rites of the Aztecs, second conversion, third their
character, chronology, astrology, and some account of their
principal cities, etc. His MS. was printed in the first voltmie
of Icazbalceta's Documentos Ineditos.

(7)

PETER MARTYR

Pietro Martire de Angleria of Arona, Italy, came to Spain

ii6 Letters of Cortes

in 1487. He wrote in Latin Dc Orbc Xovo, i)rinted in a com-
plete edition by Haklu)i;, Paris, 1587. He took great interest
in the discoveries and colonisation, and was allowed to at-
tend meetings of the Royal Council for the Indies. He was
personally acquainted with Columbus, Cortes, and others,
and their correspondence with the Court was open to him.
His writings are those of a philosophical observer of historical
events, unencumbered with the manifold details and small
incidents which crowd and confuse the pages of the soldier
chroniclers such as Bernal Diaz. He died in 1525.

(8)

ANTONIO DE HERRERA

Antonio de Herrera was born at Cuellar in 1549, and was
made Historiographer of the Indies from 1 492-1 554. His
Historia General de las Indias Occidentales is divided into eight
decades, of which the first four were published in 1601, the
others in 1 6 1 5 , five volumes in folio. A very free English trans-
lation, with omissions, was made by Stevens. The plan of
this work is confused and interrupted, wanting in sequence,
and filled with irrelevant details. He had access to all the
Statepapers, colonial reports, and every MS. relating to the
discovery, conquest, and colonisation of the New World, and
he quoted very freely from Las Casas. Dazzled by the
wonderful events of the times and the equally marvellous
achievements of his countrymen, he was blind to their faults
and excesses, so that, while not exactly a panegyric, his work
is coloured by a strong patriotism, which shows in hi3 op-
timistic appreciation of the character and deeds of the con-
querors. His work is, however, a compendium of authentic
information which cannot be too highly esteemed. He died
in 1625.

(9)

JUAN DE TORQUEMADA

Juan de Torquemada, Provincial of the Franciscans in
Mexico from 1614-1617, spent more than fifty years of his

Bibliographical Note 117

life in the country, during which time he amassed an im-
mense collection of ancient pictures, writings, and original
manuscripts, besides the information, often legendary and
contradictory, which he obtained from the Indians. Of his
Monarchia Indiana Clavigero says that one must seek jewels
among the rubbish. It was first published in Madrid in 1614,

and again in 1724.

(10)

WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT

The work of the eminent American historian William H.
Prescott is too well known to require extensive notice
here. His diligence in research, and his scholarly familiarity
with the ;;ources of Spanish- American history, contributed to
make his Conquest of Mexico a masterpiece of historical narra-
tive, in which sober facts seem almost to catch the glamour
of romance from the delightful style of their presentation,
and this work will doubtless long remain the most complete,
as it is the most fascinating, account in our language of the
stirring events it describes.

(")

MANUEL OROZCO Y BERRA

In 1880, the Historia Antiqiia de la Conquista de Mexico,
by Don Manuel Orozco y Berra, Vice-President of the Society
of Geography and Statistics, was published by the order and
at the expense of the Mexican Government, Don Porfirio
Diaz being then President, and Senor Mariscal Minister of
Public Instruction. This erudite work, the fruit of a lifetime
of discriminating research by the distinguished author, is
divided into four parts: I. Civilisation, II. Prehistoric Man
in Mexico, III. Ancient History, IV. The Conquest.

(12)

MANUEL GARCIA ICAZBALCETA

The collection of documents, for the most part inedited,
published in 1858 by Don Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta, opens

ii8 Letters of Cortes

many orip^inal and invaluable historical sources to all. The
labours of this learned Mexican in the field of historical
research are beyond all praise.

Besides the ^vrite^s above noticed, the following are the
principal authorities who have been consulted:

in Icazbalceta's

Documentos
Iniditos, volume i.

De Rebus Gestis, anonymous.

Ititierario de larmata del Re Catholico

El Conquistador Andnitno

Ixtlilxochitl, Historia Chichimeca.

P. Diego Duran, Historia de las Indias de Nueva Espaha.

Fernando Tezozomoc, Cronica Mexicana, 1538.

Diego Munoz Camargo (Tlascalan), Historia Tlascala.

Carlos Siguenza, Imperio Chichimeco, Geneal. Reyes Mexi-
canos.

Pizarro: Varones Illustres.

Joseph de Acosta, S. J., Historia Natural y Moral de las
Indias. Madrid, i6o8.

Thomas Gage, Voyage 1626.

Archbishop Lorenzana, Historia de Nueva Espana,
1770.

Salazar y Olarte, Historia de la Conquista.

Francesco Xaverio Clavigero, Storia Antica del Messico.

Agostino de Vetancourt, Teatro Mexicano, 1698 (Mexico).

Gemelli Careri, Giro delMondo, Venezia, 1728.

Antonio de Solis, Historia de la Conquista.

Andres Cavo, S. J., Los Tres Siglos de Mexico (Carlo
Bustamente).

Archivo Mexicano, Residencia de Cortes.

Diego de Landa, Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan.

William Robertson, History of America; History of Charles V.

Washington Irving, Life of Columbus; Companions of
Columbus.

Luca Alaman, Dissertazioni sulla Storia del Messico. Ital-
ian translation by E. Pelaez, 1859.

Humboldt, Essai Politique; Vues des Cordillieres.

Mexico a Trovers los Siglos (published under direction of
D. Vincente Riva Palacio).

Sir Arthur Helps, Cortes.

Bibliographical Note 119

Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Yiicatan.

Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Mexico in Vol. X.

Abbd Brasseur de Bourbourg. Histoire des Nations Civ-
ilisees du Mextque, 1839.

Ternaux-Compans, Voyages, Relations et Memoires, Origi-
naux. Paris, 1883.

Andres Gonzalez de Barcia, Historiadoses Primitiros de las
Indias Occidentals.

Martin Fernandez de Navarre te, Documentos ineditos para
la Historia de Espana.

Riradeneira's Bihlioteca de Autores Espanoles.

Desire Charnay, Ancient Cities of the New World. Paris,
1887.

FIRST LETTER

121

FIRST LETTER

Sent to the Queen Dona Juana, and the Emperor Charles
v., her son, by the Judiciary and Municipal Authorities
of the Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, dated the loth July 15 19.
Very High and Very Powerful and Excellent Princes,
Very Catholic and Very Great Sovereigns and Rulers.
We believe that Your Majesties by a letter from Diego
Velasquez,^ Lieutenant of the AdmiraP in the Island of Fer-
nandina, ^ will have been informed of the new land, which

» He was a native of Cuellar, and accompanied Columbus on his
second voyage in 1493; under commission of Diego Columbus, then
viceroy, he effected the conquest of Cuba, and became governor of the
island. He showed himself ungrateful to his benefactor, Diego
Columbus, and he was in his turn betrayed, and finally outgeneralled,
by Cortes. When the royal appointment of the latter, as Captain-
General of New Spain, was proclaimed in Cuba by Rodrigo de Paz,
and Francisco de las Casas, to the sound of trumpets in 1522, Diego
Velasquez took to his bed from sheer mortification, and died within a
few months. Fuller notice of his character, and his dealings with
Cortes, are given in the preceding Biographical Note.

2 Diego Columbus, only son of the Admiral Christopher Columbus
and his wife Felipa Mogniz Perestrello of Lisbon, succeeded Don
Nicolas de Ovando as governor, and bore the title of viceroy.

5 Cuba, which was discovered by Columbus, on October 28, 1492,
and named by him, Juana, in honour of the Royal Infante, Don Juan.
He was convinced that he had reached China, or Cipango, of which
he had read in Marco Polo's narrative. It was discovered to be an
island by Ocampo, who first circumnavigated it in 1508. The
island was conquered in 151 1 by Velasquez, in command of three hun-
dred men, but so peaceable and indolent were the natives, that the
conquest was eflfected almost without a struggle; for only one chief,
Hatuey, with a few followers, attempted to dispute the landing of the
Spaniards. Hatuey was captured, and sentenced to be burned.
When this cruel sentence was about to be carried out, a friar exhorted
him to be baptised, and thus ensure his soul going to paradise. The
chief asked if there would be Spaniards there, and when the friar

123

124 Letters of Cortes

was discovered in these parts about two years ago, which
in the beginning was called Cozumcl, ^ and has since been
named Yucatan, 2 without its being the one or the other.
This your Royal Highnesses will be able to perceive from
our narration because, until now the accounts, which
have been made to Your Majesties concerning this coun-
try, both of its customs and wealth, as well as concerning
the manner of its discovery, and other things which have
been stated about it, are not and could not have been
exact, for, as will appear from this account which we send
to Your Highnesses, up till now no one has known them.
We will deal with it here from the beginning of its

answered that they all hoped to go there, he rephed that then he would
rather not. So he was burned, but not converted. The Indian name
Cuba has persisted and survived all others. (Oviedo, Hist. 6^^n., lib-
xxvii., cap. iii. ; Las Casas, Hist, de las Indies, lib. iii., cap. xxi.-xxv.)

' Cozumel, also sometimes called Acuzamil {Ah-Cnzamil meaning
the "Swallows"), was discovered by Juan de Grijalba on the feast
of the Invention of the Holy Cross, and hence named by him Santa
Cruz. He took possession in the name of the Spanish sovereigns,
and of Diego Velasquez, under whose commission the expedition had
sailed. There was a stone building on the island, having a square
tower with a door in each of its four sides. Inside this there were idols,
palm branches, and bones, which they said were those of a great chief
(Oviedo, lib. xvii., cap ix.). The tower was surmounted by a smaller
square turret which was reached by an outside staircase. Grijalba
hoisted the Spanish flag on this turret, and named the place San Juan
de Puerta Latina. The Chaplain Fray Juan Diaz said mass. Cristo-
bal de Olid, who was sent by Velasquez in search of Grijalba's expedi-
tion, about whose safety fears were felt, also landed at Cozumel, and
took formal possession, thinking that he was its discoverer (Orozco
y Berra, tom. iv., cap. i.). The inhabitants seemed poor, and what
gold they produced was mostly an alloy with copper, of little value,
which the Indians called guanin, and prized highly (Las Casas, lib.
7, cap. Ixvii.).

Cozumel was a place of pilgrimage, and in one of the great temples
there stood a hollow statue called Teel-Cuzam (the Swallows' Feet),
made of terra-cotta, in which a priest placed himself to give oracular
answers to the pilgrims (Cogolludo, Hist, de Yucatan, lib. iv., cap.
vii.).

2 Yucatan, "The land of wounds and calamities," as Bemal Diaz
called it. This coast was first sighted by Columbus, but he did not
land. In 1 5 1 1 , a boat-load of men from the wreck of Valdivia's caravel

First Letter 125

discovery up to its present state, so that Your Majesties
will know the country as it really is, the people who
possess it, and the manner of their life, and the rites
and ceremonies, the sect or law they obey, and the
profit which Your Royal Highnesses may derive from it;
and may also know who have here rendered services
to Your Majesties, in order that Your Royal Highnesses
may act as best suits your service. The most faithful
and exact account is as follows:

It may be two years, a little more or less, Most En-
lightened Princes, that, in the City of Santiago, ^ which
is in the Island of Fernandina, of whose towns Expedition
we have been citizens, three inhabitants of ofFernan-
the said Island united, and the one was called <iez de

Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba, 2 another or o a
Lope Ochoa de Caicedo, and the third Cristobal Mor-

drifted onto the coast, and the men were sacrificed, and eaten, all save
two, who escaped as will be explained later. The coast was first really
discovered by Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba, as is here related,
and the name of Yucatan was the word tectetan, meaning "I don't
understand," caught by the Spaniards from the natives, and which
they took to be the name of the country (Motolinia, trat iii., cap.
viii.). The Indian name was Ulumil Cuz, and Etel Ceh, meaning the
land of birds and game; they also called it Peten, an island, though
they well knew that it was not one. According to Ordonez, not only
the coast province, but the entire country, was also called Maya
(a waterless land). The language of all the country was known as
the Maya tongue.

The subjoined references will be useful to students of the history
of this most interesting country and its stupendous antiquities:
CogoUudo, Hist, de Yucatan; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Histoire des
Nations civilis^es du Mexique; Diego de Landa, Relacion de las Cosas
de Yucatan (French translation by Brasseur de Bourbourg) ; Stephens,
Incidents of Travels in Yucatan; Bancroft, Native Races; and Carrillo,
Compendio de la Hist. Yucatan.

1 Santiago was the seat of the governor, and the cathedral city of
the first bishop.

2 This expedition was organised by the men who had originally come
from Spain with Pedro Arias de Avila, commonly called Pedrarias
de Avila, when he was sent in command of an admirably equipped
fleet to supersede Balboa as governor of Darien. Among these men
was Bemal Diaz del Castillo, whose copious narrative of the events

126 Letters of Cortes

ante; and, as it is customary in these Islands, which
have been peopled by Spaniards in the name of Your
Majesties, to brini; Indians for their service from the
other Islands which have not been peopled by Spaniards,
these said persons sent two ships and a brigantine, in
order to fetch Indians from those Islands ^ to Fernandina

in the islands, and in Mexico, is one of the most valuable sources
of American history.

These men, on their return from Darien, were cordially received
in Cuba by Diego Velasquez, who encouraged them to continue ex-
plorations. After three years of fruitless delays during which many
were ill and some had died, they decided to organise a venture on their
own account, and they secured the co-operation of Francisco Fernandez
de Cordoba, a rich colonist, who was willing to put his money into the
undertaking. He was chosen as captain, three vessels were bought,
one of which Cortes and others assert, was furnished by Velasquez,
on condition that he should be reimbursed for his outlay by slaves,
who should be brought back from the islands. Bemal Diaz says
that they refused this condition, but that Velasquez furnished the
ship just the same; this, however, does not accord with other testi-
mony, and it may well be that Bemal Diaz, who was simply an enlisted
soldier-adventurer, knew little of the conditions negotiated amongst
the owners and leaders.

The little flotilla put to sea from Santiago on February 8, 151 7,
stopping first at Puerto del Principe for supplies, and continuing
thence under the direction of the pilot Alaminos, who laid the course.
After a voyage not free from dangers, they discovered a small island
off the peninsula of Yucatan, which they called Isia de las Mugeres
(Women's Island), because they found there statues of the goddesses
Xchel and Ixchebeliax, and others. From this island an important
looking town on the mainland was visible, which they named Grand
Cairo. This expedition, as will be seen in succeeding notes, ended
badly.

> The Spanish settlements in the New World were, at that time,
limited to the islands of Hispaniola (Haiti), Cuba, Puerto Rico, and
Jamaica, which were called the Indies by the discoverers and con-
querors, because they were firmly persuaded they had encircled half
the globe, and reached the Orient. Besides these four islands, there
was the colony of Darien, of which more information will be given
later. Popular imagination in Spain was inflamed by the tales of vast
wealth in gold, silver, pearls, precious stones, and spices, lying in
the virgin lands waiting to be picked up by the first comer. Avaricious
adventurers set out to enrich themselves by a lucky venture, and
return with their easily and quickly won fortunes to Spain. Serious
projects for colonisation were not yet conceived, and, what settlements

First Letter 127

to make slaves of them. We believe, although we do
not positively know it, that the said Diego Velasquez,
Lieutenant of the Admiral, owned a fourth part of the
armada. One of the owners of the said armada, called
Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba, went as its Captain,
taking as pilot a resident of the town of Palos,^ one
Anton de Alaminos,2 whom we have also now as pilot,
and whom we have sent to Your Royal Highnesses that
he may furnish information to Your Majesties.

Pursuing their voyage, they arrived at the said
Island of Yucatan, at its uttermost point, which may
be sixty or seventy leagues both from the Discovery
said Island of Fernandina, and from this coun- of

trv of the rich land of Vera Cruz, [thus in Yucatan
the MS. , where we now are in the name of
Your Royal Highnesses. At this point they disembarked
at a town called Campoche, ^ whose chief they named

there were, had been made by disillusioned immigrants who, when they
found that gold and pearls, instead of lying at their feet, had to be
sought as elsewhere with labour, enslaved the natives for the exploita-
tion of the natural resources of the islands. Thus the slave trade sprang
up, and as the Indians, unaccustomed to hard work and harsh treat-
ment, died ofE in such numbers as to rapidly depopulate the neighbour-
hoods of the Spanish settlements, expeditions were constantly
organised to the neighbouring islands for the purpose, as Cortes states,
of capturing the natives. The system of repartimientos and en-
comiendas was begun under the sanction of Columbus, and, in spite
of the denunciations of the Church, and repeated edicts from the home
government, the slave trade flourished, and the island population
rapidly dwindled. This subject is more fully noticed in Appendix I.
to the Fourth Letter.

« Anton de Alaminos had served under Columbus on his voyage
in 1502, when the other pilots were Comacho de Triana, and Juan
Alvarez ; there was also the inspector of the royal fifth Bernardino de
Iniquez, and a Chaplain, Alonzo Gonzalez from the town of San
Cristobal.

2 The little port from which Columbus originally sailed in 1492.

3 The point of Catoche, where they landed on March 5th, is
the extremity of the peninsula nearest to Cuba. A chief and many
people came out to the caravels in canoes, and having no interpreter
they made themselves understood as best they could by signs, inviting

128 Letters of Cortes

Lazaro, and gave two spindles with a piece of cloth of
gold; but, as the natives of the country did not allow
them to remain in the town, or on land, they left, and
went about ten leagues down the coast, where they again
landed at a town called Machocobon, ^ whose chief was
Champoto. Here they were well received by the natives,
though they were not allowed to come into the towns;
and that night they slept out of their ships, and on land.
The natives, seeing this, attacked them 2 on the
morning of the following day, in such a manner that 26
Spaniards perished, and all the rest were wounded, and
at last the Captain Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba,
seeing this, escaped with those who were left to him by
taking refuge in the ships. The said Captain, seeing
that more than a quarter of his people had been killed,
and that he himself had received 30 odd wounds, and
was almost dead, and despairing of escape, returned with
the ships and people to the said Island of Fernandina. ^

the Spaniards to land, and saying Conex Cotoche, which means "come to
our houses, " but was thought by the Spaniards to be the name of the
place. They called it Catoche therefore (Carrillo, Compendia de la
Hist. Yucatan p. 105). Cortes here confuses Catoche with Cam-
peche (in Maya, Kimpech) , further westward on the bay of the same
name, where the caravels arrived on Sunday, the feast of San Lazaro
(March 22nd). Oviedo says that the Spaniards called the chief of the
place Lazaro, and that the Indian name for the place was Campeche,
but Orozco y Berra states that, in ancient letters, the place is called
llazaro, and the river Campeche (torn, iv., cap. i., note).

1 There is much confusion amongst the early writers in the
spelling of Indian names, and in assigning them correctly. In this
case the place was called Poton-Chan, and the bay received the name
of Mala Pelea from the Spanish sailors, on account of the disastrous
rout they suffered there. The Cacique, Machocobon, according to
Gomara, was a very formidable warrior.

* See Appendix I. at close of Letter.

' Alaminos, after consulting the other pilots, decided to sail
for Florida, as being the best way back to Cuba, and because he knew
that coast since its discovery by Ponce de Leon. They reached
Florida in four days, and, upon landing to get water, they were again
attacked. Both Alaminos and Bemal Diaz were wounded, while
Berrio, the only soldier who had come unscathed out of the Mala-

First Letter 129

Here they made known to Diego Velasquez that they
had found a land very rich in gold, because they had seen
that all the natives wore it, some in their noses, some
in their ears, and some in other parts, and, likewise,
that there were in that country edifices Return
built of mortar and stone. They made known of the

to him also many other facts, which they pub- Expedition
Hshed about the admirable things and riches of the said
land, and they counselled him to send ships to barter for
gold, saying that, if he would do so, a great amount of
it could be obtained.^

Upon learning this, the said Diego Velasquez, moved
more by cupidity than any other zeal, sent a Procurator
to the Island of Hispaniola, with a certain account, which
he made to the Reverend Fathers of St. Jerome, 2 who
resided there as Governors of the Indies, to obtain per-

Pelea fight, met the worse fate of being taken alive. After many
mishaps, they finally landed at Carenas (Habana), and, ten days later.
Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba died from his wounds, and thus ended
this disastrous expedition (Bernal Diaz, cap. i-vi. ; Oviedo, lib
xvii., cap. iv.; Gomara, Hist, de las Indias, cap. lii.; Herrera, dec. ii.^
lib. iii., cap. xvii-xviii.; Cogolludo, Hist. Yucatan, lib. i., cap. i-ii.;
Torquemada, lib. iv., cap. iii.).

» Their description of the solidly built houses and temples, the
spoils of gold which they brought, together with the two converted
captives, aroused the greatest excitement, and inflamed Diego Velas-
quez's cupidity. Speculation as to the origin of the natives of Yucatan
was rife, and the theory was advanced that they descended from the
tribes of Jews exiled from Jerusalem under Vespasian and Titus.

2 Fray Bartolom6 Las Casas had succeeded, by the moving picture
he drew of the oppression and injustice practised by the Spaniards on
the natives of the islands, in interesting the Cardinal- Regent Ximenez
deCisereros in their behalf, and His Eminence's first step was to apply
to the General of the Jeronymites at San Bartolom^ de Lupiano to
furnish some men of that order for service in the Indies. A chapter
of the Priors of Castile, which the General assembled, assented to the
Cardinal's wish, and furnished three friars who were sent out with
instructions, and very full powers. Las Casas says that they did not
go as governors, as some supposed, but rather to see that the laws for
the protection of the Indians were observed, and to report abuses.
They were instructed to visit each island personally, to ascertain the
number of chiefs and tribes, and to see how they were treated by the

VOL. I. — 9

130 Letters of Cortes

mission to colonise in the name of Your Majesties, by
virtue of the authority which Your Highnesses had given
them. He told them that they would do a great service
to Your Majesties if they would give him permission to
trade v.'ith the natives, for gold and pearls and precious
stones and other things, all of which would become his
property by paying the fifth part to Your Majesties. All
this was granted by the said Reverend Fathers of St.
Jerome, the Governors, inasmuch as he said in his ac-
count that he had discovered the land at his own cost,
and moreover knew the secrets of it, and that he would
provide in every respect as should best advance the
service of Your Royal Highnesses. On the other hand,
without communicating it to the said Jeronymite Fathers,
he sent to Your Royal Highnesses a certain Gonzalo de

holders of eiicomiendas. as well as by the governors, judges, and other
cflScials. Hispaniola (Haiti), Cuba, and Jamaica, were particularly
designated for their visitations, and they were enjoined to inspect the
mines, and report on possible ameliorations. They had power to
regulate the amount of meat to be allowed each labourer, the market
price of necessities, the housing of the Indians, the education of
children, marriages between Spaniards and natives, etc.

These friars were selected by Cardinal Ximenez from among twelve
names presented to him by four Priors, sent by the Chapter to Madrid
for that purpose, and they sailed from San Lucar, November 11, 15 16,
landing in San Domingo thirteen days later (Las Casas). Gayangos,
Cartas de Cortes, p. 3 , mentions the Jeronymite Fathers as numbering
but two. Fray Luis de Fig^eroa, a native of Seville, who was Prior of
Mejorada, and Fray Alonso de Santo Domingo, Prior of San Juan
de Ortega. The third, however, was Fray Bernardino de Manzanedo.

The island of Hispaniola, where the Jeronymites resided, was discov-
ered on December 6, 1492, by Christopher Columbus who named the
harbour where he landed San Nicolas. San Domingo became the prin-
cipal city and residence of the viceroy. In consequence of the
dissensions between Don Diego Columbus, who held that office, and
various persons, notably the royal treasurer, Miguel Pasamonte,
who headed a faction against him, the Spanish government in 15 10
established the Royal Audiencia. This was a court of appeal for
all causes in which the viceroy had pronounced judgment. The
name Hispaniola (Espanola), given by Columbus to the island, has
been superseded by the original Indian name of Haiti.

First Letter 131

Guzman,^ with power of attorney, and the same account,
saying that he had discovered the country at his own cost,
thus rendering service to Your Majesties, and that he
wished to conquer it at his own cost, and he prayed Your
Royal Highnesses to make him adelantado 2 and governor
of it, with certain privileges for which he asked further
on, as Your Majesties will have seen by his account, and
for which reason we do not express them here.

In the meantime, as the permission was given by the
Reverend Fathers of St. Jerome, the Governors in the
nameof Your Majesties, he hastened to fit out Expedition
three ships and a brigantine, so that, if Your of

Majesties were not pleased to grant Gonzalo de Grijalba
Guzman what he had asked, the ships would have
already been sent, with the permission given by
the said Reverend Jeronymite Fathers, the Gover-
nors. He sent as Captain one of his relatives, called
Juan de Grijalba,^ and with him 160 men of the

» Gonzalo de Guzman was a royal treasurer in the islands.

2 Spanish title for the governor of a province.

3 A native of Cuellar, who came to Cuba when a mere lad.
Las Casas describes him as a youth of great promise, and Gomara
says he was a nephew of Velasquez's. He was of gentle birth, and,
as a fellow-townsman, he was treated by Velasquez with much con-
sideration, whether he was a relative or not. The armada furnished
him consisted of four caravels, the Santiago, San Sebastian, La
Trinidad, and Santa Maria de los Remedios; the pilots were the same
who went with the first expedition, with the addition of a fourth one,
unnamed. There was a treasurer, Anton de Villasana, an inspector,
Francisco de Penalosa, and a chaplain, Fray Juan Diaz; in all told
above two hundred persons composed the company. After several false
starts, they finally set sail on May ist. This date, in spite of divers con-
tradictions, is established by the Itinerario de Varmata del Re Cattolico
verso la Isola de Yucatan, MDXVII., which is given in the Documentos
Ineditos of Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta, Mexico, 1858.

Three other captains were Pedro de Alvarado, Francisco de Montejo,
and Alonso Davila; the men including pilots and sailors numbered
250. They discovered the Tabasco River, which was henceforth named
Grijalba, though the name Tabasco (Tabzcoob was the Indian name)
remained to the province between Yucatan and Cuazocoalco.

After Rio Tabasco, they discovered a river (Xamapan, now called

13- Letters of Cortes

inhabitants of said Island, amongst whom some of us came
as Captains for the purpose of serving Your Majesties, and
not only did we and those of the said armada come risking
our own persons, but we and they also provided almost all
the outfit of the said armada from our own resources,
in which we and they spent a very great part of our
fortunes. And there went again as pilot of this armada
the same Anton de Alaminos, who first discovered the
said country when he went with Francisco Fernandez
de Cordoba.

In making this vo^^age, they followed in his former
track, and, before they reached the said land, they dis-
covered a small island, called Cozumel, which may measure

Jamapa), which they called Banderas, because Indians carrying
white flags were seen along the coast. They received them with great
civility and interest, and traded to the amount of 15,000 dollars
worth of gold (Bernal Diaz, cap. xiii.). Here the name of Monte-
zuma was first heard by the Spaniards. The next stopping place
was named Isla de los Sacrifios, because they found in a temple there
six or seven bodies of men with their breasts cut open, and their hearts
gone. The Island of Ulua was so named from the Indian word Culua,
which the Spaniards imperfectly caught, and, to distinguish it from
San Juan de Puerto Rico, they called the place San Juan de Ulua
(Bernal Diaz, cap. xiv. ; Orozco y Berra, vol. iv., cap. ii.).

On the Island of Ulua the Spanish government afterwards built
a fortress said to have cost forty millions of dollars, and which was
the last stronghold of Spain in Mexico. On November 23, 1825,
the President of the new republic announced its fall by a proclamation :
"The standard of the republic floats over the castle of Ulua! I
announce to you, fellow citizens, with inexpressible pleasure that,
after a lapse of three hundred and four years, the flag of Castile has now
disappeared from our coasts."

From here, Pedro de Alvarado with one of the four ships, the San
Sebastian, was sent to report to Diego Velasquez what had been dis-
covered. He took also the gold and treasures, and was to ask for
further instructions concerning settlements, which Grijalba had no
power to make. The others next went on to Panuco. Velasquez
was vexed with Grijalba for not colonising, though the latter justified
himself by the instructions given him, which expressly forbade this
(Bernal Diaz, cap. xv. ; Oviedo, lib. xvii., cap. xviii. ; Gomara, Cronica,
cap. v., vi. ; CogoUudo, lib. i., cap. iii., iv. ; Orozco y Berra, vol. iv.,
cap. ii.-iii.).

First Letter 133

about thirty leagues, and lies off the southern part of the
said land; and they arrived in the Island at a town, to
which they gave the name of San Juan de Puerta Latina, ^
and the Island they named Santa Cruz. 2 The same
day on which they arrived there about 150 Indians of
the town came to see them, and as it appeared, on the
following day these Indians abandoned the town and
fled to the woods.

Being in need of water, the Captain hoisted sail in
order to obtain it elsewhere that same day, and while
pursuing his voyage, it was agreed to return to the said
port and Island of Santa Cruz, where he anchored and
went on shore, finding the town without people, as
though it had never been inhabited. He took his supply
of water, returning to his ships without taking soundings,
or learning anything so as to be able to give a true account
to Your Royal Highnesses concerning that Island.

Setting sail he left, keeping on his voyage until he
arrived at the land which Francisco Fernandez de Cor-
doba had discovered, where they coasted about, from
south to west, until they came to a bay, which the said
Captain Gonzalo and the chief pilot, Anton de Alaminos,
named Bay of Ascension. ^ This, according to the
opinion of the pilots, is very near to Punta de las Velas,
discovered by Vicente Yanez * which is the part [passage
in the MS. not intelligible'] of the Bay which is very

1 The town thus named by Grijalba, as described in Note i , page 124.

2 Cozumel. Here the converted Indians, Melchor and Julian,
began to act as interpreters.

3 Bay of Ascension. This was on Thursday the 13th, feast of the
Ascension, and they remained there reconnoitring until Sunday.

* Vincente Yanez Pinzon, who landed jhere about January 26,
1500, was one of the three Pinzon brothers who first sailed with
Columbus from Palos in 1492. He afterwards commanded an expedi-
tion composed of four small ships which sailed from Palos in 1499,
making the first discovery of land at the present Cape St. Augustine,
on the coast of Brazil, in 1506. He again sailed with Juan de Solis,
on a voyage to find the strait which it was thought joined the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans, and, in 1508, he repeated this fruitless experiment.

134 Letters of Cortes

large, and it is thought that it reaches to the Sea of the
North.

Thence they returned along the same coast by which
they had gone, until they rounded the point of the said
land, and, continuing in a northerly direction, they sailed
until they arrived at the said Point Campoche, whose
chief was named Lazaro, where Francisco Fernandez
de Cordoba had stopped to trade, and, as ordered by
Diego Velasquez, as well as to take the water he greatly
needed, landed there.

As soon as the natives saw them coming, they placed
themselves near their town, in array of battle, so as to
defend its entrance. The Captain called to them, through
the interpreters who accompanied him, and certain In-
dians came, whom he made to understand that he came
merely for the purpose of trading with them for such
things as they might have, and to get water; and thus
he went with them until they arrived at a place, very
near their town, where there was a spring. While taking
the water he asked them through the said interpreter for
gold, saying he would give them in exchange the valu-
ables which he brought, and, as soon as the Indians saw
this, having no gold to give him, they told him to go
Gri'alba's ^^'^YJ ^ut he begged them to allow him to
Encounters finish taking water, saying that he would
with the immediately leave. In spite of this, however,
Indians ^iq -^^^s unable to save himself from being
obliged the next day, at the hour of mass, to fight the
Indians, armed with their bows and arrows, their lances,
and rodelas, ^ so that they killed a Spaniard, and wound-
ed the said Captain Grijalba and many others. That
same afternoon they re-embarked in their caravels with
all their people, without having gone into the town of the

1 These were round shields for defence, which were adorned
with different coloured feathers of herons, parrots, and other birds,
according to the category of the troops, or the heraldic emblem of the
chief.

■.^

First Letter 135

said Indians, and without having learned anything which
they could truly relate to Your Majesties.

From there they went along the said coast until they
came to a river, which they named Grijalba, and which
they ascended about the hour of vespers. Early the
following morning, they found on both sides of the river
a great number of Indians and warriors, with their bows
and arrows, and lances, and rodelas, to defend the en-
trance to their country; and to some, it seemed there
were about five thousand Indians.

The Captain seeing this, no one landed, but he spoke
to them from the ship through his interpreters, praying
them to approach nearer so that he might explain to them
the motives of his coming, and twenty Indians entered
a canoe, and cautiously approached the ships. The
Captain Grijalba then told them, and made them under-
stand through his interpreter, that he had come only to
barter, and that he wished to be their friend, and that
they should bring their gold for which he would give them
many valuables which he carried; and thus they did.

The next day, they brought certain jewels of thin
gold, for which the said Captain gave them in return such
valuables as he thought proper, and they returned to their
town; and the said Captain remained there that day.

The next day he set sail, without learning anything
else about the country, and continued until he ari'ived
at the Bay, to which they gave the name of San Juan.

The Captain went ashore there with some of his people
to some desolate sand-hills, and as, when the natives had
seen the ships coming along the coast, they had assembled,
he spoke to them, through his interpreter, and had a
table brought on which he spread out some of his valu-
ables, making them understand that he had come to
trade with them and to be their friend. When the In-
dians saw and understood this, they brought some stuffs,
and ornaments of gold, which they traded with the Cap-

136 Letters of Cortes

tain; and from there the said Captain Grijalba dispatched
one of the caravels to Diego Velasquez, with all that they
had up till then obtained.

The caravel having departed for the Island of Fer-
nandina where Diego Velasquez was, the Captain Gri-
jalba went down the coast with the remaining caravels,
cruising for a distance of about forty-five leagues without
landing, or seeing anything except what could be seen
from the sea. He then set out to return towards the
Island of Femandina, and never more did he see any-
thing of the country worth mentioning, from which your
Royal Highnesses may believe that all the accounts
which have been made about this country cannot have
been exact, because they knew nothing more of the
secrets of it than what it has suited their purpose to
write.

As soon as the said caravel, which the Captain Juan
de Grijalba had dispatched from the Bay of San Juan,
arrived, and Diego Velasquez saw the gold which it
canied, and learned from Grijalba's letters about the
stuffs and valuables which had been given in exchange,
it seemed to him, according to information given him
by those who arrived in the said caravel, that he had
obtained little in proportion to what he expected. He
declared that he had not even covered the cost he had
incurred in the said aiTnada, and he was vexed, and showed
dissatisfaction at the little which Captain Grijalba had
accomplished in this country.

In truth, Diego Velasquez had no reason to complain,
because his outlays in the said armada were covered from
certain casks, and tuns of wine, and other merchandise,
and boxes of laced shirts, and beads, which he had sent
with it. The wine was sold there to us at four dollars
in gold, which are two thousand maravedis ^ the aroba,

>A small Spanish coin: Bancroft (Hist. Mex., vol. ii., p. 376)
gives the value of the diicat as equal to 375 maravedis, and peso de

First Letter 137

and each shirt at two dollars in gold, and the string of
green beads at two dollars, so that he thus covered his
outlay in the armada, and even made money. We make
special mention of this to Your Majesties that it may be
known that the armadas, which until now have been
fitted out by Diego Velasquez, have been intended as
much for trading merchandise as for privateers, and this
with our persons and with our property; and although
we have suffered infinite hardships we have served, and
we shall serve. Your Royal Highnesses as long as life
lasts.

Diego Velasquez being vexed by the small amount of
gold that had been brought him, and wishing to obtain
more, determined, without making it known to the Gov-
ernors, the Jeronymite Fathers, to equip a swift armada,
and to send it in search of his relative, the said Captain
Juan de Grijalba. To do this at less cost to himself, he
spoke to Fernando Cortes, a resident and alcalde for
Your Majesties in the city of Santiago, proposing to him
that they should fit out between them eight or ten ships,
because at that time Fernando Cortes had more resources
than any other person in the said Island, and because
it was believed that more people would enlist with him
than with any other.

The said Fernando Cortes, considering what Diego
Velasquez had proposed, and moved by zeal to serve

minas as 450 maravedis, which he computes as equal to $9.75 ; he refers
to Clemencin, secretary of the Spanish Royal Academy as his authority.
Prescott (Conquest of Mex.) computes the ducat at $8.75, and gives the
feso de oro, and the castellano as identical, and worth $11.67. Mr.
George Folsom, in his English translation of three Letters of Cortes,
gives the value of the castellano as only $2.75. According to these
calculations, the feso de minas, and the peso de oro, were different coins.
The value of these monies is difficult to estimate. Their purchasing
power was far greater than their exact equivalent would be to-
day, and the value of articles of European manufacture, of horses,
iron, and other imported necessities was variable, according to their
scarcity, and to the needs of the buyer. Nails, horseshoes, and like
objects, sometimes cost their weight in gold, or double in silver.

138 Letters of Cortes

Your Royal Highnesses, was ready to spend all he had,
and to equip almost two parts of this armada at his own
cost, not only in ships, but also in stores, and moreover
to distribute his moneys amongst those who were going
in the armada, and who needed to provide things
necessary for the voyage.

The armada having been fitted and equipped, Diego
Velasquez in the name of Your Majesties, named the
Cortes ^^^^ Fernando Cortes Captain of it, that he

Given Com- sliould come to this land to trade, and accom-
mand of the pHsh what Grijalba had failed to do. The
rma a agreement respecting the said armada, although
he did not invest or spend more than one-third part
of it, was made entirely according to Diego Velas-
quez's wishes as Your Royal Highnesses may command
to be verified from the instructions and faculty which
the said Fernando Cortes received from him in the name
of Your j\Iajesties. These we now send with these our
procurators to Your Royal Highnesses.

Let it be known to Your Majesties that the larger
part of the third, which Diego Velasquez spent in fitting
out the said annada, consisted in investing his money
in wines, and clothing, and in other things of little value,
in order to sell them to us here at a much higher price
than they had cost him, so that we may say that Diego
Velasquez has made his bargains, and the profits on his
money, amongst us Spaniards, vassals of your Royal
Highnesses, doing a very good business.

Having finished fitting out the said armada. Your
Royal Highnesses' Captain, Fernando Cortes, sailed
upon his voyage from the Island of Femandina, having
ten caravels, and four hundred men at arms, amongst
whom were many knights and other noblemen, and six-
teen horses. Pursuing their voyage, the first land where
they arrived was the Island of Cozumel (now called
Santa Cruz, as has been said), in the port of San Juan

First Letter 139

de Puerta Latina. Upon landing, the town which ex-
isted there was found to be deserted, as though it had
never been inhabited, and the Captain Fernando Cortes,
wishing to know the cause of that place being deserted,
brought the people on land, and quartered them in that
town. While there with his people he learned from three
Indians, who had been taken in a canoe ^ at sea while
going to Yucatan, that the caciques of that Island, seeing
the Spaniards were approaching, had, out of fear of them
(not knowing with what purpose, and in what disposition
they came), abandoned their town, and gone with all
their Indians into the woods.

Fernando Cortes, speaking to them through the
medium of an interpreter who accompanied him, told
them we were not going to do them any evil Neeotia-
or injury, but only to instruct them, and win tions at
them to the knowledge of our Holy Catholic Cozumel
Faith, so that they might become vassals of Your
Majesties, serving and obeying them, as had all the
Indians of these parts which the Spaniards have
settled, who are likewise vassals of Your Royal High-
nesses. The said Captain, having thus reassured them
they put aside their fears, in great part, and said that
they would go and call the caciques who had gone into
the woods; and the Captain immediately gave them a
letter, so that the said caciques might come in all con-
fidence, and, the Captain having given them a term of five
days in which to return, they went off thus.

But while the Captain was waiting for the reply the
Indians were to bring, and as already three or four days
beyond the five which he had stipulated had elapsed,
and he saw that they did not come, he determined, in
order that the Island might not remain deserted, to send

> Their canoes were made of tree-trunks, hollowed, and were
sometimes large enough to hold forty or fifty men (Bernal Diaz,
cap. ii.).

I40 Letters of Cortes

along the coast to the other side. He despatched two cap-
tains, therefore, each with one hundred men, directing that
one should go to the extremity of the island from
one side, and the other from the other, and that they
should speak to the caciques whom they might encounter,
telling them that he was waiting for them in that town
and port of San Juan de Puerta Latina to speak to them
on behalf of Your Majesties. He also directed that they
should invite and attract them as best they could, so
as to induce them to come to the said port of San
Juan, and that they should do them no harm, either
in their persons, or houses, or property, so as not to
alarm them, nor drive them further away than they
already were.

The two captains went as the Captain Fernando
Cortes had ordered them, and three or four days after-
wards they returned, saying that all the towns they had
found were empty and bringing with them ten or twelve
persons whom they had captured. Amongst these was a
principal Indian to whom the said Fernando Cortes
spoke in the name of Your Highnesses, through his inter-
preter, telling him to go and call the caciques, as he would
on no account leave the Island without having seen and
spoken vnth them. The Indian answered that he would
do this, and thus he left with a letter to the said caciques,
returning two days later with the principal cacique, who
said that he was Lord of the Island, and had come to see
for what he was wanted.

The Captain spoke to him through the interpreter,
and told him that he did not wish, nor had he come to do
them any harm, but in order to bring them to a knowledge
of our Holy Faith, and to let them know that our rulers
were the greatest Princes in the world, and that they
obeyed a Greater Prince. And what the said Captain
Fernando Cortes told them he wanted of them was that
the caciques and Indians of the said Island should also

First Letter 141

obey Your Royal Highnesses, and that in so doing they
would be much favoured, and no one would ever molest
them. The Cacique answered that he would be glad to
do this, and he immediately sent to call all the principal
people of the Island, who came and were much pleased
with all that the said Captain Fernando Cortes had told
the chief cacique of the Island. Thus he ordered them
to come back, which they joyfully did, becoming reas-
sured to such an extent that, within a few days, the towns
were as full of people as before, and all the Indians went
about amongst us with as little fear as if they had already
had a long period of intercourse with us.

In the meantime, the Captain learned that there
were in the power of certain caciques in Yucatan,
some Spaniards who had been made captives Spanish
as long since as seven years, when, having Prisoners in
been lost in a certain caravel ^ which was Yucatan
wrecked on the reefs of Jamaica, 2 while coming from
Tierra Firma, they had escaped in one of the boats of the
caravel, and reached that coast. From that time they
had been held captives and prisoners by the Indians,
Since the said Captain Fernando Cortes had left the
Island of Fernandina to seek for these Spaniards, and as
he here received information about them, and about the
country where they were, it seemed to him that he was

1 The caravel of Valdi via, sent from Darien and wrecked (1511)
on the reefs called las Viboras, situated fifteen leagues to the south of
Jamaica, and which extend for a distance of forty-five leagues,
from 27° 10' longitude, and 17° north latitude (Alcedo, Diccionario
Geogr. Hist, de las Indias Occid.). Twenty were saved in an open boat
without sails, food, or water, and, after thirteen days' drifting, reached
the Maya coast. Seven or eight had died in the meantime from
exhaustion, and Valdivia and five others were fattened and sacrificed
by the Mayas, who captured them on their landing, and were after-
wards eaten. Notice of those who escaped is given in a later note.

2 Discovered by Columbus on his second voyage, in 1494, and
named Santiago. His son Diego effected its conquest, and governed it
from San Domingo, through his captains, of whom the best known was
Francisco de Garay.

142 Letters of Cortes

rendering a great service to God and to Your Majesty
in striving to liberate them from their imprisonment
and captivity. He himself with the whole fleet would
have gone immediately to rescue them, had not the pilots
told him on no account to do this, as it would be the
cause of the loss of the fleet and all the people of it, be-
cause the coast was very rough, as it really is, and has no
port or any place where the ships could anchor. For
this reason he abandoned the idea, and ordered that
certain Indians, who had told him they knew that
cacique with whom those Spaniards were, should go
in a canoe; and he wrote to the Spaniards that the only
reason why he gave up coming himself with his armada to
liberate them was because the coast was very bad and
rough for anchoring, but that he prayed them to strive
for their liberation, and to escape in canoes, and that he
should wait for them in the Island of Santa Cruz.

Three days after the said Captain had sent those
Indians with his letters, as it appeared to him that he had
not acted satisfactorily, and believing that those Indians
would not know how to carry out his wishes, he de-
termined to send forty Spaniards to the said coast with
two brigantines, and a boat from his armada, so that they
might recover those captive Spaniards if they could
find them. With them he sent three other Indians, who
should go ashore with another letter ^ of his to seek the
Spanish prisoners. "When those two brigantines and the

> Noble Sirs, — I left Cuba with a fleet of eleven ships, and five
hundred Spaniards, and have arrived at Cozumel, whence I write you
this letter.

The people of this island assure me that there are five or six bearded
white men in this country, who greatly resemble us, and, I conjec-
ture, though they can give me no other indications, that you are
Spaniards. I, and the gentlemen, who have come with me to
explore and take possession of these countries, earnestly beg you
to come to us within five or six days after you receive this, without
further delay or excuse.

If you will come, all of us will recognise, and thank you, for the

First Letter 143

boat reached the coast, they landed the three Indians,
and sent them to seek for the Spaniards, as the Captain
had ordered ; and they remained six days along the coast
with much difficulty, always waiting for them, though
they were almost lost and nearly foundered as the sea
along the said coast was very rough, just as the pilots had
said. Seeing then that neither the Spanish captives, nor
the Indians who had gone to look for them, returned, they
determined to go back to the Island of Santa Cruz where
the Captain Fernando Cortes was waiting for them.

When they reached the Island, and the Captain learned
their bad news he was much grieved, and immediately
proposed to embark the next day, firmly resolved to visit
that country, even if the whole flotilla should be lost,
for the purpose of ascertaining whether there was any
truth in the report which Captain Juan de Grijalba had
sent to the Island of Femandina, to the effect that it was
all an invention, and that no such Spaniards as were
said to be captives had ever arrived on that coast.

Having taken this decision, he had all the people em-
barked, except himself, and some other twenty Spaniards,
who remained with him on shore. The weather had
been most favourable to his intention to leave the port,
but there suddenly sprang up a contrary wind, with
squalls of rain, so that the pilots advised the Captain
not to set sail while the weather was unfavourable for
getting to sea; so, in view of this, the Captain commanded
all on board the armada to disembark once more.

The next day at noon, a canoe with sails was seen

coming in the direction of the Island, in . . , ,
° ' Arrival of

which, upon its approach, we saw one of jeronimo
the Spanish captives, whose name was Jeronimo de Aguilar

assistance this armada shall receive from you. I send a brigantine
to bring you, with two ships as escort.

Hernan Cortes.
The Indian took this letter tied in his hair.

144 Letters of Cortes

de Aguilar, * who told us all about how he came to be
lost, and the length of time he had been in captivity,
which is as we have already related to Your Royal
Highnesses.

Of a truth, this adverse weather coming upon us so
unexpectedly seemed a great mystery and miracle of
Gk)d, and led us to believe that no enterprise undertaken
in Your Majesties' service, be it what it may, could end
in anything but good.

We learned from Jeronimo de Aguilar, that the other
Spaniards, who were lost with him in the shipwrecked
caravel, were scattered over all the land, which he told
us was very extensive, and that it would be quite impos-
sible to gather them without staying and losing much
time over it. So, as the Captain Fernando Cortes saw
that the provisions of the armada were giving out, and
that the people would be exposed to suffer great want
from hunger if they delayed longer, and that this would
not contribute to the object of their voyage, he deter-
mined, with the approval of the others to depart. They
immediately set sail, therefore, leaving that Island of
Cozumel, which is now called Santa Cruz, entirely pacified,
so that had it been their intention to colonise, the Indians

» He was a native of Encija, and had taken holy orders. Seeing
the dreadful fate of their companions, Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero
managed to escape from the cages, in which they were being fattened
for the sacrificial feasts, and to lose themselves in the forests. Here
they were finally captured by the cacique of another tribe, who was
less bloodthirsty, and held them as slaves instead of killing them.
Aguilar's virtues and abilities soon attracted attention, and won the
respect of his captor, and he rose to a position of influence in the country .

When the news came of the arrival of the ships with more white men,
and Cortc">'s letter was delivered to Aguilar, he procured permission
to go to hiS countrymen; but his companion Guerrero, who had mar-
ried, and had a family, refused to go, for he was ashamed to show him-
self naked and tattooed, and with his nose and lips pierced in Indian
fashion. Jeronimo de Aguilar was not distinguishable from the
Indians, as he was burned nearly black, and wore the same ornaments.
He remained with Cortes as his interpreter, rendering invaluable
services throughout the conquest.

First Letter 145

would have served them to the best of their ability;
and the caciques were very pleased and contented both
with what the said captain had told them on the part
of Your Royal Highnesses, and with the many ornaments
he had given them; and I am confident that any Span-
iards who from henceforward shall arrive at Cozumel
will be as well received there as in any of those Islands
which have been long since settled. The said Island
is small, and there is no creek or river in it, and all
the water which the Indians drink is from wells, and there
are only rocks, and stones, and mountains. The only
trade which the Indians have is in bee-hives, and our
Procurators will bear to Your Highnesses specimens of
the honey and the bee-hives that you may command
them to be examined. ^

Be it known to Your Majesties, that the Captain
exhorted the caciques of the said Island, admonishing
them to renounce the heathen sect in which they were
living, and, when they asked him to give them a law ac-
cording to which they might henceforth live, the said
Captain instructed them as best he could in the Catholic
Faith. He left them also a cross of wood in a lofty house,
and an image of Our Lady, the Virgin Mary, making them
understand perfectly well what they were obHged to do
to become good Christians; and they showed that they
received everything with the best will, and thus they
were left contented and happy.

After leaving the Island, we went to Yucatan, and,
continuing towards the north, we kept in sight of land,
until we arrived at the great river called Grijalba (Rio

1 Clavigero notices six different varieties of bees in Mexico, some
like those common in Europe, and others without stings, which make
the honey "Estabentun," the clearest, sweetest, and most aromatic
known. These bees are found in Yucatan, and Chiapa, and it is
doubtless their honey which is here mentioned. It was collected every
two months, but the November honey was the best, because it was
made from a very sweet flower called " Estabentun," which blooms in
September.

VOL. I. — 10

146 Letters of Cortes

de Tabasco), which, according to the account given to
Your Royal Highnesses, is where Captain de Grijalba,
relative to Diego Velasquez, had been. The mouth of
that river is so shallow, that none of the larger ships
could enter, but, as the said Captain Fernando Cortes is so
devoted to the service of Your Majesties, and has the best
intention to relate truthfully everything about that coun-
try, he determined not to go further until he had learned
the mystery of that river, and because of their great repu-
tation for wealth, of the towns which people its banks.

He therefore embarked all the people of his armada
in his small brigantines and boats, and ascended the
Cortes at ^'^^^ river, observing the country and the
Rio de towns along it ; and when we came to the
Tabasco f^j-g^ town we found the Indians drawn up
on the banks, to whom the said Captain spoke through
the interpreter, and through the said Geronimo de
Aguilar, who having, as we have heretofore stated,
been a captive in Yucatan, understood and spoke the
language of that country very well. He made them under-
stand how he had not come to do them any harm or
evil, but only to speak to them on the part of Your
Majesties ; and that he, therefore, prayed that they would
allow and approve of his landing, because we had no place
to sleep that night in the brigantines and barques, in
which we could not even stand on our feet; and as for
returning to our ships, it was already very late and they
were on the high sea. The Indians answered to this
that he could say all he wished from where he was, but
that he should not talk of landing, neither he nor his
people, for they would dispute his entrance; and, saying
this, they menaced us with their arrows, bidding us to
go away from there. So as it was late in the after-
noon (it being already the hour of sundown), the Captain
ordered us to go to some sand-hills which were opposite
the town, and there we slept that night.

First Letter 147

On the morning of the following day some Indians
came in a canoe and brought us a certain number of
chickens and a little maize, which might be sufficient for
[text missing] number of men for one meal. They told
us to take that, and to depart from their country, and
the captain spoke to them through the interpreter whom
we had, and made them understand that he would in no
wise go away until he knew the secret of it, so that he
might write a true account of it to Your Majesties.
He again begged them that, as they would suffer no
harm from him, they would not obstruct his entrance to
the said town, because they were vassals of Your Royal
Highnesses. But still they answered, that we should
not venture into the said town but must depart from
their country.

When they were gone the Captain determined to go
there, so he ordered one of his captains to start with two
hundred men by a road which he had discovered during
the night we slept on land, while he, himself, embarked
with about eighty men in the barques and brigantines,
stationing himself in front of the town, ready to dis-
embark whenever they would allow him.

When he came there he found the Indians ready for
battle, armed with their bows and arrows and lances
and rodelas, and they told him to depart from p. j^^
their country, but if he would not go, and at

wanted war, to begin at once, for they were Tabasco
men to defend their town. After the Captain had
required ^ them three times and asked Your High-
nesses' notary, whom he carried with him, to bear
witness to the fact, he told them that he did not
want war. Seeing, however, that it was the deter-
mination of the said Indians to resist his landing, and
that they began to discharge arrows at us, he ordered
the charges of artillery to be fired, and that we should

» See Appendix II. at close of Letter.

148 Letters of Cortes

charge thorn. Wlion the shots were bcinp fired and while
landing they wtnindcd some of us, but finally, in con-
sequence of our rapid charges, and of the attack in the
rear by those who had gone by the road, they fled, leaving
us the to\\Ti, and we took possession of that part of it
which seemed to us the stronger.

The next day following, at the hour of vespers, two
Indians, ' on the part of the caciques, came to us, bring-

> The appearance of the ships of de Cordoba and Grijalba, and the
fighting in Yucatan, were quickly reported to Montezuma, whose
superstitious mind was so affected by events, in which he saw the
disasters to himself and his people foretold by Quetzalcoatl, that his
first impulse was to save himself by some enchantment or incantation,
which should translate him to the abode, or Walhalla, of the famous
kings and demi-gods of antiquity. The simultaneous apparition of a
great comet in the sky confirmed these forebodings, and he gave
himself entirely into the hands of his diviners and necromancers,
who exercised all their resources of interpreting dreams, reading signs
in natural phenomena, and studying the heavens, to obtain direction
for their sovereign in his perplexity. Many, whose dreams presaged
evil, were starved to death or put to tortures; a reign of terror set in,
and none dared to speak in the sovereign's presence, while the prisons
were full of luckless magicians, and death penalties were inflicted even
upon their families in the provinces (Duran, cap. Iviii., and Tezozo-
moc. apud Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., cap. ii.). As the proofs of the
presence of the white strangers in their floating houses accumulated,
despite Montezuma's reluctance to believe the reports which were
repeatedly brought to him, the sovereign fell into a state of profound
depression, and despairing of warding off the ominous presence, he
ordered costly gifts to be especially made, and he sent the two envoi's,
Teutlamacazqui and Cuitlalpitoc, to Pinotl, governor of Cuetlachtla,
commanding him to provide in every way for the reception and enter-
tainment of the celestial guests. After the departure of Grijalba's
men, the fears of Montezuma somewhat subsided, and he persuaded
himself that he had staved off the impending disaster. The governor
of the coast provinces, however, had strict orders to keep watch, and
immediately report any further appearance of the fearsome strangers.
Hence the arrival of Cortes, nine months later, was at once an-
nounced, by fleet messengers, to the Emperor, who decided in council
to send ambassadors to welcome him, and bring exact information
concerning all they could see and learn. Thus, on Easter Day, the
twenty-fourth of April, Teuhtlilli, governor of Cuetlachtla and Cuitlal-
pitoc, who had been before sent to Grijalba, appeared before Cortes.
While extending the welcome his superstitious fears forbade him to

First Letter 149

ing certain jewels of very thin gold of little value. They
told the Captain that they brought him those ornaments
to induce him to go away, and, without doing them any
harm or injury, to leave them their land where they had
always been. The said Captain answered, saying, that, as
to doing them any harm or injury, he had no such wish,
and as to leaving them the land, they must understand
that from henceforward they were to have for their Lords,
the greatest Princes of the earth, whose vassals they
would be, and that they would have to serve them, and
that, in acting thus, Your Majesties would grant them
many mercies, and favours would grow upon them, and
that they should be protected and defended from their
enemies. They answered that they would be satisfied
to do this, but still they required that their country
should be left to them. Thus we all became friends,
and, our friendship being established, the Captain told
them that the Spaniards there with him had nothing
to eat, as nothing had been brought from the ships,
and he prayed them to bring us food during the time
we remained on the Island ; they answered that the
next day they would, and thus they went away, and re-
mained away that day and the next, nor did they bring
us any food.

As all of us were, on this account, in great need of
supplies, on the third day some Spaniards asked per-
mission of the Captain to go to some farms in the

withhold, the Emperor secretly charged his magicians, whom he as-
sembled from far and wide, to rid the country of the strangers by
the power of magic. The allied kings and nobles were in constant
council from which no decision issued, the greater number being of
Cacamatzin's opinion, that, if the strangers were gods, it was useless
to resist them, if they were envoys of a distant monarch, they should
be received as such, while if they were men who came with hostile
intent, they could easily be crushed. Only Cuitlahuac, lord of Itzta-
palapan, opposed this view (Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chichimeca, cap. Ixxx.)
This prince with patriotic foresight was for crushing the strangers
nstantly, and before they could work the nation any evil.

150 Letters of Cortes

neighbourhcxxl to look for something to eat; and the
Captain, seeing that the Indians did not return as they
had promised, sent four captains with more than two
hundred men to hunt round about the town, and see
if they could find anything to eat. While these were
engaged in searching, they met many Indians who
immediately shot arrows at them, wounding twenty
Spaniards, and had not the Captain been immediately
advised of this, so as to go, as he did, to their
assistance, they would probably have killed more than
half the Christians. So we all retreated to our camp,
where the wounded were cared for, and those who had
fought obtained some rest.

The Captain, seeing how wrongly the Indians had
acted, in that, instead of bringing us food as they had
agreed, they had wounded us with their arrows, and made
war upon us, ordered ten of the horses and mares we
had on board to be brought, and all the people to be pre-
pared, because he thought that those Indians, encouraged
by the advantage they had obtained the day before,
would fall upon us hoping to injure us. On the next
day when all was thus prepared, he sent certain captains
with three hundred men, to the place where the battle
had been fought the day before, to learn if the Indians
were still there or what had become of them. A little
later, he sent two other captains, with a rear-guard and
another hundred men, and the said Captain Fernando
Cortes went secretly to one side with ten men on horse-
back. Proceeding in this order, those who went ahead
met a great number of warriors coming to attack us in
oiir camp, and, if we had not gone out that day to en-
counter them on the road, we should probably have found
ourselves in great distress.

When the captain of artillery, who went ahead, made
certain requirements before the notary, of the warriors
whom he met, giving them to understand through the

First Letter 151

interpreters that we desired no war, but peace and love
with them, they did not bother to answer us with words,
but let fly a thick volley of arrows at us. While those in
the fore were fighting with the Indians, two captains
of the rear-guard came up, and, after two hours of fighting,
the Captain Fernando Cortes arrived with the horsemen,
coming out from the woods at the point where the In-
dians were surrounding the Spaniards on all sides; and
so he kept up the fight with the Indians for an hour, and
such was their multitude that neither those who were
fighting the Spanish foot-soldiers could see the horsemen,
nor know where they were, nor could the horsemen, ad-
vancing and retreating amongst the Indians, see each
other. As soon, however, as the Spaniards realised that
the horsemen had come up, they charged quickly upon
the Indians, who immediately began to fly, and pursued
them for half a league. The Captain, seeing that the
Indians were in full flight, and that nothing remained
to be done, and that his troops were very fatigued, gave
the order that all should collect in some farmhouses near
by; and, when they were assembled, twenty were found
to be wounded, of whom no one died, nor did anyone
who had been wounded the day before. Thus assembled,
and the wounded cared for, we returned to our camp,
carrying with us two Indians whom we had captured,
whom the Captain ordered to be liberated,'and sent letters
by them to the caciques, telling them that, if they would
come to him, he would pardon them the offence which
they had committed, and they would be his friends.

That same afternoon two who seemed to be principal In-
dians ^ came, saying that they were very sorry Results of
for the past, and that those caciques besought the Hos-
him to pardon them, and not to do any further tilities at
injury nor kill any more of their people, for

« The first messengers seemed from their dress to be slaves,
and though their gifts of chickens, smoked fish, and maize-cakes, were

152 Letters of Cortes

there were as many as two huntlrcd ami twenty men slain.
They also said that the past should be the past, and hence-
forward they wished to be vassals of those Princes of
whom, he had told them, giving and holding themselves
as such, and that they would acknowledge and bind
themselves to serve them whenever they should be com-
manded to do so in the name of Your Majesties. Thus
peace was made and agreed upon, and the Captain asked
the said Indians, through the interpreter whom we had
with us, who were the people who had taken part in the
battle, and they answered that they came from eight
pro\4nces, and according to their counting they were in
all forty thousand men, ^ and that they knew perfectly
well how to count up to that number. Your Royal

accepted, and they were given some glass beads in return, they were
sent back to say that if their people wanted peace the chiefs must
come themselves, as the Spaniards could not treat with slaves. Some
thirty head-men appeared the next day, bringing the usual present of
provisions, and asking permission to bury and cremate their dead,
offering to conclude peace the following day. This was agreed to,
and the dead were buried, or burned according to the usage of each
tribe. At noon the next day, the chiefs appeared, and in the conversa-
tion Jeronimo de Aguilar acted as interpreter. Cortes adroitly ar-
ranged a show of gun firing and horsemanship to impress them, and he
threw all the blame for the fighting upon them, but declared that, if
they were ready for peace his sovereigns would regard them as friends,
and favour and help them. Negotiations terminated the next day,
when an assembly of all the neighbouring chiefs acknowledged them-
selves vassals of the Spanish king, giving Cortes presents of gold and
slaves. Amongst these latter was Marina, of whom further notice
will appear.

' Andres de Tapia fixes the number at 48,000, but these figures
seem hardly possible, and Orozco y Berra observes that they must be
taken as representing the idea of multitude, rather than an actual
counting. This decisive battle, which took place on March 25th,
became known as the battle of Ceutla, and in Gomara's chronicle,
as well as in Tapia's narrative, and that of others, the victory was
attributed to the miraculous inter\-ention of St. James, the patron
of Spain, or of St. Peter the patron of Cortes. Bemal Diaz says that
it may be as Gomara describes, and that "los glorias apostolos Senor
Santiago and Senor San Pedro " did appear, but he, miserable sinner,
was not worthy to behold the apparition.

First Letter 153

Highnesses may believe for certain, that this battle was
won, rather by the will of God, than by our forces, be-
cause weak was the defence of our four hundred against
forty thousand warriors.

After we had become good friends, they gave us, during
the four or five days we still remained there, some one
hundred and forty dollars of gold in pieces of all kinds, and
very thin, and so much esteemed by them that it seemed
their country was very poor in gold, because it appeared
certain that the little they possessed had come from other
parts in trading. The land is very good and provisions are
abundant, both in maize, as well as fruits, fish, and other
things which they eat. This town is situated on the
banks of the afore-named river, about which extends a
plain, where there are many farms and cultivated fields,
such as they have. He [Cortes] reproved them for the
evil they did in adoring their idols and gods, and he
made them understand that they should come to the
knowledge of our Very Holy Faith, and he left them a
large wooden cross set up on an elevation, and they
remained very satisfied, saying they would hold it
in great veneration, and would adore it ; thus these In-
dians became our friends and vassals of Your Royal
Highnesses.

The said Captain Fernando Cortes left there, continuing
his voyage, and we arrived at the port, and bay, which
is called San Juan, where the above-named Captain
Grijalba traded, of which extensive relation has hereto-
fore been made to Your Majesty. Immediately upon
our arrival, the natives came to inquire what caravels
were those which had arrived, and as it was very late
that day, almost night, the Captain remained quietly
in the caravel, and ordered that no one should go on
shore. Early the next day the Captain landed with a
great part of the people of his armada, and found two
of the principal Indians there, to whom he presented

154 Letters of Cortes

certain of his own valuable garments, and, speaking to
them through the interpreters, he gave them to understand
that he hail come to these parts, by command of Your
Royal Highnesses, to speak to them, and to tell them
what they should do to advance your service. For this
he besought them that they should immediately go to
their town, and call the cacique, or caciques who might
be there, to come and speak to him; and, to ensure their
coming, he gave them two shirts for those caciques, and
two jackets, one of silk and one of velvet, also various
caps, and some hawk's bells; so they went with these
valuables to the said caciques. The next day a little before
noon one of the caciques of that town came, to whom the
said Captain spoke, and made him understand, through
the interpreter, that he had not come to do them any
hurt nor injury, but to inform them that they were
to be vassals of Your Majesties, and how they were to
serve them and to pay tribute of what they had in their
country, as did all who are such. And the cacique an
swered that he was very satisfied to be such, and to obey,
and that he would be much pleased to serve them, and
to have such high Princes for lords as the Captain had
made them understand Your Royal Majesties were. Im-
mediately afterwards, the Captain told him that, since
he was so well disposed towards his King and Lord, he
would see what great favours Your Majesties would
grant him in the future; and, saying this, he made him
put on a shirt of hoUand, and a robe of velvet, and a
girdle of gold, with w^hich the said cacique was much
pleased and happy. He told the Captain then, that he
wanted to go to his country, and asked him to wait for
him there, for the next day he would come back, and
bring him such things as he had, so that we might more
fully imderstand his good will towards the service of Your
Royal Highnesses. Thus he took his leave, and de-
parted; and, the next day, the said cacique returned, as

First Letter 155

he had agreed, and spreading a white cloth before the
Captain, he offered him certain precious jewels of gold,
which he placed upon it; of these, and the others which
we afterwards obtained, we make relation to Your
Majesties in a memorial which our procurators take
with them.

After the said cacique had taken leave of us, and
returned satisfied to his house, some of those noble
persons ^ who came in this armada, gentle- Decision
men, and sons of gentlemen, zealous in the to

service of our Lord, and of Your Royal High- Colonise
nesses, and desirous for the exaltation of your royal
crown, and the extension of your dominions, and the in-
crease of your revenues, assembled and spoke with the Cap-
tain Fernando Cortes, saying that this land was good and
that, judging by the sample of gold which that cacique had
brought, it was reasonable to believe that it must be
very rich, and that he and all his Indians were well dis-
posed towards us. For these reasons, it seemed to us
that it was not advantageous for Your Majesties' service
to do as Diego Velasquez had ordered the said Captain
Fernando Cortes to do (which was to trade for all the
gold we could, and, having obtained it, to return to the
island of Fernandina, in order that the said Diego Velas-
quez, and the said Captain mightpr ofit exclusively by it,

'The armada was composed of eleven vessels, of which the
largest, on which Cortes sailed, was of loo tonels, the tonel being some-
what more than one ton. The number of men is variously given by
different authorities, but, in the memorandum of Cortes at the time
of his residencia in 1534, it is stated that there were 530 men. The
persons of nobility must be sought among the leaders and captains
who were Pedro de Alvarado, Gonzalo de Sandoval, Francisco de
Orozco, Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero, Diego de Ordaz, Alonzo
de Avila, Juan de Escalante, Francisco de Montejo, Francisco de
Morla, Francisco de Saucedo, Juan Velasquez de Leon, and Cristobal
de Olid. Pedro de Alvarado had two brothers, Jorge and Gomez,
and a natural brother, called Juan, and there may have been some other
adventurers of good origin amongst the company (Orozco y Berra;
tom, iv., cap. iii.).

15^5 Letters of Cortes

and that it seemed better to all of us that a town should
be founded and peopled there in the name of Your Royal
Highnesses. In this, there should be a court of justice,
so that you would have your jurisdiction in this country
just as in your kingdoms and dominions, since possibly
this country, being peopled by Spaniards, in addition
to the increase of the kingdoms and dependencies, and
the incomes of Your Majesties, you might show some
favours to us, and to the colonists who would come there
hereafter.

Ha\nng decided this, we all agreed with one accord
and mind, and we made a requirement to the said Captain,
in which we told him that, as he saw how agreeable it
would be to the service of God, Our Lord, and of Your
Majesties, that this country should be peopled (giving
the reasons which we have heretofore recounted to Your
Highnesses), we required him to cease trading, as he
was doing, inasmuch as it was equivalent to destroying
the country to a great extent, and that Your Majesties
would thus be but poorly serv^ed; and that, for the same
reason, we asked and required him to name alcaldes, and
municipal authorities, in the name of Your Royal High-
nesses, for the town which was to be founded and built
by us. This was accompanied by intimations in legal
form that we would protest against him if he acted other-
wise. This requirement having been made to the said
Captain, he replied that he would give his answer the
next day; and the said Captain, having seen how all that
we had asked him to do would be profitable to the service
of Your Royal Highnesses, answered us the next day,
saying that he was exclusively devoted to the service of
Your Majesties, and that, \\'ithout considering the profit
which might result to him from carrying on the trading
as planned, so as to recover the great expenses which
had been sustained out of his property in fitting out that
armada with the said Diego Velasquez, but rather putting

First Letter 157

aside everything else, he was glad and satisfied to do
whatever we had asked him to do, inasmuch as it was
advantageous to the service of Your Royal Highnesses.
Immediately, therefore, he began with great pQ^^dation
diligence to found and people a town, to which of
the name was given of Rica Villa de la Vera ^^^^ ^"^"^
Cruz. ^ He named .those of us who will sign at the
endas alcaldes and municipal officers of the said town

' The legal formalities so scrupulously observed, were a trifle
farcical in this particular instance, and Cortes doubtless listened to the
reading of the "requirements" with a solemn exterior, but with his
"tongue in his cheek." The narrative here is clear. He resigned the
authority he had received from Velasquez, the royal governor of Cuba,
into the hands of the municipal authorities he had himself appointed
in response to the popular demand, and who thereby likewise became
royal officials. They in their turn exercised their powers to appoint
him Captain-General, and Chief Justice, of the new colony, and thus,
by due form of law, Cortes found himself, within twenty-four hours after
his abdication, installed as the recognised dispenser of civil justice,
and as military commander. He showed a becoming reluctance to
accept the nomination, and finally had all the appearance of yielding
to an irresistible expression of the popular will. Bernal Diaz quotes
to the point an old Spanish proverb : Tu mi lo ruegas y yo mi lo
quiero. The partisans of Cortes, led by the Alvarados, Olid, Avila,
Escalante, and Puertocarrero, secretly formed a party among the
men and propounded the new plan of colonisation for the crown, in
substitution for that of merely trading in the interest of Diego Velas-
quez, arguing that he, Velasquez would get the lion's share of the
profits, on their return to Cuba, while they would be about as poor as
when they started. This idea won adherents, but was not slow in
reaching the knowledge of the friends of Velasquez, who protested
vigorously against such a betrayal of confidence, and insisted that
they should return to Cuba with the treasure, and make their report
to the governor. Cortes feigned to accede to their view, and perplexed
them greatly by giving immediate orders to embark the next day.
No sooner were these orders given, than the "imperialist" group,
to describe them by a modern term, held a second meeting, in
which it was resolved that their allegiance and duty were to the crown,
that being already in practical possession of a rich strip of coast, and
well received by the Indians, since they had proved their superiority,
they should rather consider the conversion of the natives, and the
extension of His Majesty's dominions, than the mere trading profits
of the governor of Cuba, and hence that they should found there a port
and city in the name of the sovereigns, who would certainly approve

158 Letters of Cortes

rccci\'ing from us the oath in the name of Your
Royal Highnesses, \vith the solemnity customary in such
cases; after which we assembled the next day in our
council and assembly chamber, and, being thus assembled,
we sent to summon the Captain Fernando Cortes, and
we asked him in the name of Your Royal Highnesses
to show us the powers and instructions, which the said
Diego Velasquez had given him for coming to these
parts. He immediately sent for these, and showed them
to us, and, having been seen and read by us, and well
examined according to the best of our understanding,
it seemed to us that, by those powers and instructions,
the said Captain Fernando Cortes, had no longer any
authority, and that, they having expired, he could no
longer exercise the office of justice, or of captain.

It seemed to us, Very Excellent Princes, that, for the
sake of peace and concord amongst us, and in order to
govern us well, it was necessary to install a person for

when they came to understand the circumstances. The Velasquez
party seems to have oflEered no open resistance.

The elaborate name of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz was given to the
new settlement, the "rica" being suggested by the rich character of the
soil, and the "Vera Cruz" by the date of their landing, which was a
Good Friday, the day when the Cross is especially venerated.

The transformation scene was very complete. Cortes, from being the
semi-rebellious captain of a trading fleet became the recognised repre-
sentative of the King of Spain in Mexico ; the volunteer soldiers of the
expedition became a militia; municipal officers, and royal officials
sprang into existence, who acknowledged no superior but the King,
while Diego Velasquez was eliminated from the scheme of things
entirely.

The partisans of Velasquez, though in a minority, still argued that
Cortes's election was irregular, because they had not taken part in it,
nor had it been confirmed, either by the Jeronymite Fathers, or the
governor of Cuba. This incipient sedition was characteristically
met, by Cortes oflEering as many as were dissatisfied permission to
re-embark, and return to Cuba, and, at the same time, to demonstrate
the reality of the new state of things, he ordered the Alguacil Mayor
to arrest Juan Velasquez, Diego de Ordaz, Pedro Escudero, and others
of the more active agitators, and to imprison them on the captain's
ship. This drastic move had the desired effect upon the waverers.

First Letter 159

Your Royal service to act in the name of Your Majesties
in the said town, and in these parts as Chief Justice,
and Captain, and head, whom we could all respect and
obey until we might give account of everything to Your
Royal Highnesses, so that you could provide as best
suited your service. Recognising that to no one could
we better give such a charge than to the said Fernando
Cortes, because, besides being a most suitable person, he
is moreover very zealous in the service of Your Majesties,
as well as being very experienced in these parts and
islands, of which he has always given good proofs, for
having spent all that he possessed to serve Your Majesties
in this armada, and heeded so little (as we have already
related) his possible gains and profits from continuing to
trade, we therefore elected him, in the name of Your
Royal Highnesses, to the ofhce of Justice and Superior
Alcalde, receiving from him the oath which is required in
such cases. And, having done this as profitable to the ser-
vice of Your Majesty, we received him in Your Royal name
in our Council and Assembly Chamber, as Chief Justice
and Governor of Your Royal arms, and thus he is, and
will continue, until Your Majesties provide what is best
for your service.

We have wished to fully relate all this to Your Royal
Highnesses, that you may know what has been done
here, and in what condition we are living here.

Having done as stated, and, being all assembled in
our Council Chamber, we agreed to write to Your Ma-
jesties, and to send you, in addition to the one-fifth part
which belongs to your rents, according to Your Royal
prescriptions, all the gold, and silver, and valuables which
we have obtained in this country, on account of its being
the first, and above which we keep nothing for ourselves.
We place this at the disposition of Your Royal Highnesses,
as a proof of our very good will for your service, as we
have heretofore done with our persons and property,

i6o Letters of Cortes

and, having agreed upon this amongst ourselves, wc
selected as our procurators' Alonso Hernandez Porto-
carrcro, and Francisco de Montejo, whom we send to
Your Majesties with all this, that they may kiss Your
Royal hands on our behalf, and that, in our names, and
in that of this town, and its Council, they may pray Your
Royal Highnesses to favour us as may be agreeable to
God, and to Your Majesties, and for the coming good of
this town, as will appear at greater length from the in-
structions which we have given them. We humbly beg
Your Majesties, with all the respect which is becoming,
to receive them, to give them Your Royal hands to kiss
on our behalf, and to grant them all the favours they
may ask and supplicate on behalf of this Council, and
ourselves, because, in doing this Your Majesties, besides
rendering service to Our Lord, and this town and Council,
will bestow on us the special favour which we daily hope
that Your Royal Highnesses will grant us.

In one chapter of this letter, we have already said
that we would send an account to Your Royal High-
Description nesses, by which Your Majesties might be
of the perfectly informed of everything about this

Country country, its condition, riches, the people who
possess it, and of the law and sect, rites and cere-
monies which they observe. This country, Most Potent
Princes, where we now are in the name of Your
Majesties, has fifty leagues of coast on the one side
and the other of this town, the seacoast being low
with many sand-hills, some of which are two leagues
or more in length. The country beyond these sand-hills
is level, with many fertile plains, in which are such beauti-
ful river banks, that in all Spain there can be found no
better; these are as grateful to the sight as they are pro-
ductive in everything sown in them, and very orderly and
well kept with walks, and facilities for grazing all kinds

> See Appendix III. at close of Letter.

First Letter i6i

of animals. There is every kind of game in this country,
and animals, and birds such as are familiar to us, — deer,
fallow deer, wolves, foxes, quails, doves, and pigeons,
and two or three kinds of hares and rabbits, — so that
there is no difference between this country and Spain,
as regards birds and animals; there are lions and tigers^
about five leagues from the sea, in some places, and others
are very beautiful [word missing]. There is, moreover,
a great range of very beautiful mountains, some of them
very high, amongst which one ^ very greatly exceeds all
the others, and from it can be discovered and seen a great
part of the sea and land ; and it is so high that if the day
is not very clear you cannot see or distinguish the summit
of it, because one half of it is all covered with clouds;
and sometimes when the day is very clear the peak of it
can be seen above the said clouds, and it is so white that
we judge it to be snow, and the natives even tell us that
it is snow, but as we have not seen it well, although we
have been very near to it, and because this region is so
hot, we do not affirm it to be snow. We will endeavour
to know and see it, as well as many other things about
which we have information, so as to send a true account
to Your Royal Highnesses of the wealth of gold and
silver and stones, and we judge that Your Majesties
may order it to be examined according to the samples
of all which we remit to Your Royal Highnesses. Ac-
cording to our judgment, it is credible that there is
everything in this country which existed in that from
whence Solomon is said to have brought the gold for the

1 The largest beasts of prey in Mexico were the puma, the jaguar,
and the ocelot ; lions and tigers there were none.

» Orizaba ; the usual Indian name for the volcano was Citlalte-
petl, meaning star-mountain, though they also called it Zenctepatl, and
Pojauhtecatl. According to Humboldt, its known period of greatest
activity was from iS45toi566;he also notes that both this crater, and
that of Popocatepetl, incline towards the south-east. His measure-
ment of Orizaba is 5395 metres (Essai Politique, vol. i.). Ferrer's
measurement is 5450 metres.

VOL. I. — II

1 62 Letters of Cortes

Temple, but, as we have been here so short a time, we
have not been able to see more than the distance of five
leagues inland, and about ten or twelve leagues of the
coast length on each side, which we have explored since
we landed; although from the sea it must be more, and
we saw much more while sailing.

The people who inhabit this country, from the Island
of Cozumel, and the Cape of Yucatan to the place where

Description "^^ ^°"^ ^^^' ^^^ ^ people of middle size, with
of the bodies and features well proportioned, except

Indians that in each province their customs differ,
some piercing the ears, and putting large and ugly ob-
jects in them, and others piercing the nostrils down
to the mouth, and putting in large round stones like
mirrors, and others piercing their under lips down as
far as their gums, and hanging from them large round
stones, or pieces of gold, so weighty that they pull
down the nether lip, and make it appear very deformed.
The clothing which they wear is like long veils, very
curiously worked. The men wear breech-cloths about
their bodies, and large mantles, very thin, and painted
in the style of Moorish draperies. The women of the
ordinary people wear, from their waists to their feet,
clothes also very much painted, some covering their
breasts and leaving the rest of the body uncovered.
The superior women, however, wear very thin shirts of
cotton, worked and made in the style of rochets. Their
food is maize and grain, as in the other Islands, and
potuyuca, as they eat it in the Island of Cuba, and they
eat it broiled, since they do not make bread of it; and
they have their fishing, and hunting, and they roast
many chickens, like those of the Tierra Firma, which are
as large as peacocks. ^

There are some large towns well laid out, the houses
being of stone, and mortar when they have it. The

> These were turkeys, which were unknown in Europe

First Letter 163

apartments are small, low, and in the Moorish style,
and, when they cannot find stone, they make them of
adobes, whitewashing them, and the roof is of straw.
Some of the houses of the principal people are very cool,
and have many apartments, for we have seen more than
five courts in one house, and the apartments very well
distributed, each principal department of service being
separate. Within them they have their wells and reser-
voirs for water, and rooms for the slaves and dependents,
of whom they have many. Each of these chiefs has
at the entrance of his house, but outside of it, a large
court- yard, and in some there are two and three and four
very high buildings, -with steps leading up to them, and
they are very well built; and in them they have their
mosques and prayer places, and very broad galleries on
all sides, and there they keep the idols which they worship,
some being of stone, some of gold, and some of wood, and
they honour and serve them in such wise, and with so
many ceremonies, that much paper would be required
to give Your Royal Highnesses an entire and exact de_
scription of all of them. These houses and mosques,
wherever they exist, are the largest and best built in the
town, and they keep them very well adorned, decorated
with feather-work and well-woven stuffs, and with all
manner of ornaments. Every day, before they under-
take any work, they burn incense in the said mosques,
and sometimes they sacrifice their own persons, some
cutting their tongues and others their ears, and some
hacking the body with knives ; and they offer up to their
idols all the blood which flows, sprinkling it on all sides
of those mosques, at other times throwing it up towards
the heavens, and practising many other kinds of cere-
monies, so that they undertake nothing without first
offering sacrifice there.

They have another custom, horrible, and abominable,
and deserving punishment, and which we have never be-

164 Letters of Cortes

fore seen in any other place, and it is this, that, as
Human often as they have anything to ask of their
Sacrifices idols, in order that their petition may be
more acceptable, they take many boys or girls, and
even grown men and women, and in the presence
of those idols they open their breasts, while they
are alive, and take out the hearts and entrails, and
bum the said entrails and hearts before the idols, offer-
ing that smoke in sacrifice to them. ^ Some of us who
have seen this say that [it is the most terrible and
frightful thing to behold that has ever been seen. So
frequently, and so often do these Indians do this, ac-
cording to our information, and partly by what we have
seen in the short time we are in this country, that no
year passes in which they do not kill and sacrifice fifty
souls in each mosque; and this is practised, and held
as customary, from the Isle of Cozumel to the country
in which we are now settled. Your Majesties may rest
assured that, according to the size of the land, which to
us seems very considerable, and the many mosques which
they have, there is no year, as far as we have until now
discovered and seen, when they do not kill and sacrifice
in this manner some three or four thousand souls. Now
let Your Royal Highnesses consider if they ought not to
prevent so great an evil and crime, and certainly God,
Our Lord, "^oll be weU pleased, if, through the command
of Your Royal Highnesses, these peoples should be initi-
ated and instructed in our Very Holy Catholic Faith,
and the devotion, faith, and hope, which they have in
their idols, be transferred to the Divine Omnipotence of
God; because it is certain, that, if they served God with
the same faith, and fervour, and diligence, they would
surely work miracles.

It should be believed, that it is not without cause
that God, Our Lord, has permitted that these parts

' See Appendix IV. at close of Letter.

' First Letter 165

should be discovered in the name of Your Royal High-
nesses, so that this fruit and merit before God should
be enjoyed by Your Majesties, of having instructed these
barbarian people, and brought them through your com-
mands to the True Faith. As far as we are able to know
them, we believe that, if there were interpreters and
persons who could make them understand the truth of
the Faith, and their error, many, and perhaps all, would
shortly quit the errors which they hold, and come to the
true knowledge; because they live civilly and reasonably,
better than any of the other peoples found in these parts.
To endeavour to give to Your Majesties all the par-
ticulars about this country and its people, might oc-
casion some errors in the account, because much of it we
have not seen, and only know it through information
given us by the natives ; therefore we do not undertake to
give more than what may be accepted by Your Highnesses
as true. Your Majesties may, if you deem proper, give
this account as true to Our Very Holy Father, in order
that diligence and good system may be used in effecting
the conversion of these people, because it is hoped that
great fruit and much good may be obtained ; also that His
Holiness may approve and allow that the wicked and
rebellious, being first admonished, may be punished and
chastised as enemies of Our Holy Catholic Faith, which
will be an occasion of punishment and fear to those who
may be reluctant in receiving knowledge of the Truth;
thereby, that the great evils and injuries they practise
in the service of the Devil, will be forsaken. Because,
besides what we have just related to Your Majesties
about the men, and women, and children, whom they
kill and offer in their sacrifices, we have learned, and
been positively informed, that they are all sodomites,
and given to that abominable sin. ^ In all this, we

» Clavigero denounces the blameworthy faciUty with which this
vice was imputed to the Mexicans in general, by some of the early writers

i66 Txtters of Cortes

beseech Your Majesties to order such measures taken
as are most profitable to the service of God, and to that
of Your Royal Highnesses, and so that we who are here
in your sers'icc may also be favoured and recompensed.
Amongst other things which are contained in our
, , . instructions to our procurators, whom we send

Information tt- i

Against to \ our Highnesses, one is to pray Your
Diego Majesties on our own behalf, that you should

Velasquez -^^ j^^ ^.^^^ give, or make concession in these

parts, to Diego Velasquez Lieutenant Admiral in the
Island of Fernandina of the adelaniamiento, nor the
perpetual governorship, nor any other, nor the charge
of justice; and if any such has been given to him, to
order it to be revoked, because it is not profitable to
the service of Your Royal Crown that the said Diego
Velasquez, nor any other person, should have authority,
or any other perpetual concession of any sort, save as may
be the will of Your Majesties, in this country of Your
Royal Highnesses, inasmuch as it is, as far as we can
foresee and hope, very rich. Moreover, far from profiting
Your Majesties' service, should the said Diego Velasquez
be pro\nded ^^ath some office, we foresee that we, the
vassals of Your Royal Highnesses, who have begim to
colonise, and to live in this country, will be ill-treated
by him, because we are convinced that, what has already

and, in accord with other authorities, asserts that while it existed
amongst the Panuchesi, the only evidence of it elsewhere was the severe
laws enacted for its punishment. He does not hesitate to say, that the
accusation was made by some of the Spaniards to palliate their own
excesses, — a peculiarly heinous tactic. The friars, who were later
in the best position to know the morals and customs of the Indians,
unanimously repudiate the charge. Amongst modem authorities,
Orozco y Berra combats the imputation as unfounded. Bernal Diaz
records that obscene images were found in the temples at Cozumel, and
the A^ionymous Conqueror describes in language which I do not trans-
late, the debauchery common amongst the Indians of Panuco, and gives
some singular details of their different ways of intoxicating themselves,
similar to nothing I have ever heard of amongst any people, ancient
or modem (Apud Icazbalceta, Doc. Ined. II Modo di Sacrificare, etc.).

First Letter 167

been done in Your Majesties' service, in sending this
gift of gold and silver, and valuables, which we have
obtained here in this country, and now send, would
not have been approved by him. This clearly appears
through four of his servants who have come here, and
who, when they perceived our wish to send all to Your
Royal Highnesses, as we do, declared that it would be
better to send it to Diego Velasquez, and otherwise op-
posed their being sent to Your Majesties. For this we
ordered them to be imprisoned, and they will remain
prisoners until justice decides, after which we shall relate
to Your Majesties what we have done with them. ^ So,
because we have seen what the said Diego Velasquez has
done, and our experience of it, we fear that, if he should
come to this country with any commission, he would
treat us ill, as he has done in the Island of Femandina,
during the time that he had charge of its government,
doing justice to none except as he pleased, and punishing
those whom he chose, from anger or passion, but not
from justice or reason. He has thus destroyed many
good subjects by reducing them to great poverty, in re-
fusing to give them any Indians, and taking them all

' Bemaldino de Coria, one of the conspirators, weakened at the last
moment, and betrayed the plot to seize a boat, with provisions, and
to put off to Cuba, for the purpose of warning Diego Velasquez of the
sailing of the envoys, so that he might intercept them. Cortes did not
mince matters; he promptly hanged Diego Cermeno, and Juan Escu-
dero. The latter was the same alguacil who had captured him before
the church in Santiago, where he had taken sanctuary during his quar-
rel with Velasquez, and had imprisoned him on the ship in the harbour.
Gonzalo de Umbria had his feet cut off, and two hundred lashes were
administered to each of the others, except the priest, Juan Diaz, whose
cloth protected him. Gomara suppresses the amputation of Umbria' s
feet, and says he was whipped with the others. Bemal Diaz reports
that Cortes exclaimed, when he signed the warrant for these
punishments, "who would not rather be unable to write, than to
have to sign away the lives of men !" but the old soldier shrewdly
adds, that he believes most judges from the days of Nero down have
expressed the same sentiment (Orozco y Berra, vol. iv., cap. viii.).

1 68 Letters of Cortes

for himself, and in taking all the gold which they had
obtained \\'ithout giving them any share of it. He also
has interests w-ith dishonest men, for his own advantage,
and by the mere fact of his having the Governorship,
and power of distribution, nobody dares to oppose him,
knowing and fearing that he can ruin them. Your
Majesties have no information about this, nor has there
ever been any account made of it, because the procurators,
who have gone heretofore from the said Island, are
creatures and servants of his hands, whom he holds by
giving them Indians at their pleasure; and the procura-
tors, who come from the smaller towns to attend to the
affairs of the communities, have to do as he wishes, be-
cause he buys them up with Indians. When such pro-
curators return to their towns, and are asked to give an
account of what they have done, the people declare that
poor men should not be sent as procurators, because,
for one cacique whom Diego Velasquez gives them, they
wiU do everything he wants. The municipal officers and
alcaldes who have Indians dare not speak to, or reprove,
the procurators, who have done what they ought not
to have done out of compliance to Diego Velasquez, for
fear that the said Diego Velasquez might take away their
Indians. In this, and other things, it is very good [word
missing in MS.] from which Your Royal Highnesses
may see, that all the accounts which the Island of Fer-
nandina has made of what Diego Velasquez has done,
and the favours which they asked for him, are on account
of the Indians he has given to the procurators, and not
because the communities are satisfied or wish such things ;
rather would they desire that those procurators were
punished. The above being notorious to all the inhabi-
tants and householders of this town of Vera Cruz, they
assembled with the procurator of this council, and have
asked and required us, by their reqiiirements, signed
with their names, that, in the name of all, we should beg

First Letter 169

Your Majesties not to provide the said Diego Velasquez
with the said, or any other, commission, but rather to
order him to give his residencia, ^ and to deprive
him of the charge of the Island of Fernandina. By
taking his residencta, the above statements would be
shown to be true, for which we beseech Your Majesties
to name a judge and inquisitor, in order to make an in-
vestigation of aU which we have related to Your Royal
Highnesses, not only about the Island of Cuba, but also
elsewhere ; for our intention is to prove things from which
Your Majesties may judge if it be justice or conscience
that he should have royal charges in these parts, or in the
others where he at present resides.

In the same manner, the procurator, and the inhabi-
tants and householders of this town, have asked us in the
said petition that we should supplicate Your Majesty in
their name to provide a warrant and Royal Provision to
be given in favour of Fernando Cortes, Captain, and Su-
perior Justice of Your Royal Highnesses, in order that
he may govern us with justice, until this country shall
be conquered and pacified, and for such time as may ap-
pear best to Your Majesties, and be best for your service;
for they recognise in him such a person as is fit for it.
Which petition and requirement we send with these, our
procurators, to Your Majesties, and we all humbly sup-
plicate Your Royal Highnesses, that you will grant not
only this, but all the other favours, which in the name
of this council and town may be petitioned by the said
procurators, and that you will regard us as your most

» This was done by means of a commission, with full powers
to inquire into all administrative acts of a governor, and to receive
and decide upon all complaints against him. Upon the arrival of the
commissioners, the governor and his officials resigned their authority
and badges of office into their hands, pending the outcome of the
investigation. The residencta was not of itself an indignity, nor did it
necessarily imply a want of confidence in the governor, but it was the
most effective check the home government had upon the colonial
officials.

170 Letters of Cortes

loyal vassals, such as we have been and always will be.
The gold, and silver, and jewels, and valuables, and the
rodelas, and the wearing apparel, which we send by the
procurators to Your Royal Highnesses, and which, over
and above the one-fifth which belongs to Your Majesty,
Captain Fernando Cortes, and this council, pray you to
accept, go with this memorial, signed by them and by
the said procurators, as Your Royal Highnesses may see
from it.'

« The first treasure sent to Spain contained the following curious
objects:

.■\ gold necklace composed of seven pieces, with 185 small emeralds
set in it, and 232 gems, like rubies, from which hung 27 small bells of
gold, and some pearls.

Another necklace of four pieces of gold, with 102 red gems, like
rubies, 172 emeralds, 10 fine pearls, set in it, and 26 little golden bells
pendant.

Two wheels, one of gold representing the sun, the other of silver
bearing the image of the moon, 28 hands in circumference, and bearing
various figures of animals, and other devices, beautifully worked in
relief.

A head-dress of wood, decorated with gold and gems, with 25 golden
bells pendant ; instead of a plume it had a green bird, whose eyes, beak,
and feet, were of gold.

A gold bracelet; a small sceptre with two rings of gold, set with
pearls at the ends.

Four tridents, tied with feathers of different colours, and pearl
points tied with gold thread.

Several deerskin shoes, sewn with gold thread, and having soles of
brilliant blue and white stones.

A shield of wood and leather, decorated with hanging bells of gold,
and having gold plates in the centre, carved with the figure of the god of
war, surrounded by four heads of a lion, a tiger, an eagle, and an owl,
represented with their hair and feathers.

Several skins, tanned with the hair and feathers on them.

Twenty-four curious and beautiful golden shields, decorated with
feathers and small pearls, four others of feathers and silver.

Four fish, two ducks, and other birds, made of gold.

Two sea-shells, imitated in gold, and a large crocodile, girt with
golden threads.

A large mirror, and several small ones, of gold.

Several head-dresses, and crowns of feathers and gold, ornamented
with pearls and gems.

First Letter 171

From the Rica Villa de la Vera Cruz, on the tenth
July, 1519.

Several large plumes of beautiful feathers, of various colours,
spangled with gold and small pearls.

.Several fans; some of gold and feathers, others of feathers alone,
but all very rich.

A variety of cotton robes; some all white, others chequered white
and black, or red, green, yellow, and blue, the outside being shaggy,
and the inside smooth, without colour.

A number of coats, handkerchiefs, bedcovers, tapestries, and carpets
of cotton stuffs.

There were several Mexican books, written in hierogl3nphics,
on their paper, which was about the consistency of light pasteboard.
Peter Martyr describes them as folding tablets, and says of the writing,
"Sunt characteres a nostris valde dissimilis, Egypteas fere forntas cemu-
lantiir" (De Insults nuper inventis).

Gomara says the paper was made of cotton, and a kind of gum, or
paste; sometimes also of aloe leaves; Peter Mart)nr describes it as made
of fine crushed bark, kneaded together with a gum.

APPENDICES

173

APPENDIX I.

The first attack, of which Cortes makes no mention was made
at Catoche, just before dawn, March 6th. The Indians fought with
great fury, in spite of the fire-arms which they heard for the first time,
and were repulsed only with difficulty, after they had wounded fifteen
Spaniards. Bemal Diaz relates that fifteen Indians were killed, and
two were captured, who were afterwards baptised Christians, under
the name of Melchor, and Julian, by the chaplain Fray Alonzo Gon-
zalez. The Spaniards looted the temples and houses of their idols
and golden ornaments. The Indians at Champoton repeated in-
quiringly the words "Castelan? Castelan?" and, by gestures, asked
if the strangers came from the East. Orozco y Berra (vol. iv., cap.
i.,) says that they connected the arrival of the unknown guests with
the prophecy of Kukulcan (Quetzalcoatl) , foretelling the coming of
bearded white men from the land of the rising sun, and also that they
had knowledge of Spaniards, from the time of the wreck of Valdivia's
men, whom they had probably helped to sacrifice and eat.

The Spaniards passed an anxious night, listening to the noisy
preparations of the Indians for battle, and in consulting vainly to
discover some escape. At dawn, a hand-to-hand fight was fiercely
waged, the Indians showing no fear of fire-arms, and driving the
retreating Spaniards into the sea. Fifty Spaniards were killed,
and one, Alonzo Bote, and a Portuguese, were captured alive. Bemal
Diaz says that every soldier but one had from one to four
wounds, for which the only dressing was fat taken from the dead
Indians; he himself had three and Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba
had twelve wounds. The name of Mala Pelea was given the place to
commemorate this disaster.

The Spaniards found here the crosses which excited such interest
and speculation that later a whole literature grew up to explain them.
Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba had also seen crosses in Cozumel
(Bernal Diaz, cap. iii., Oviedo, lib. xvii., cap. viii.; Gomara, Hist,
de las Indias, cap. Hi., Las Casas, Hist. Apolog., cap. cxxv.).

The crosses found in various parts of Mexico were of several kinds.
Those discovered in the western coast provinces, show a Buddhistic
type, while those in the eastern parts are like either the simple Latin or
Greek shapes. The cross at Metztitlan had the Tau form, while the
famous one at Palenque presents no features by which it may be
accurately classified, and has been thought to be an astronomical

175

176 Letters of Cortes

sign, or an emblem of the four winds. That the cross was an object
of cult amongst the Indians is certain, though there is much disagree-
ment amongst authorities as to its origin, age, and significance. Bemal
Diaz says that if it was of Christian origin and meaning, the natives
had forgotten them, and Oviedo, who even regarded the existence of
these crosses as a fable, maintained that if they did exist, and the Indians
ever had known why they venerated them, they had long since lost,
their knowledge. (Oviedo, lib. xvii., cap. viii.). Gomara described
the cross seen at Cozumel as the rain-god, and said that quails were
sacrificed before it (Gomara, Hist, de las Indias, cap. liv.).

The cross was an instrument of punishment among the Egyptians,
Persians, Macedonians, Greeks, and Romans, as also among Buddhist
peoples. Hardly an ancient religion is found in which some form of
cross does not appear as a symbol. Among the Aryan races, two
crossed sticks were the emblem of the sacred fire, produced by friction
called pramatha, from which comes the name Prometheus, of Vedic ori-
gin. The Tan borne by Isis, symbolised the rainy season (hence fertility)
in Abyssinia, and, in the Egyptian cult, was the emblem of fecundation,
(phallus of Osiris). Among the Jews, the cross had no sacred char-
acter, but was on the contrary, the vilest instrument of capital
punishment.

APPENDIX II.

This "making a requirement" was at once a naive and arrogant
formality by which the Spaniards sought to give legal sanction to their
high-handed invasion and claims on the Indians' submission. By a
bull dated May 4, 1493, Alexander VI. gave in donation to the Spanish
sovereigns all lands which might be discovered in the new world,
defined by a line drawn one hundred leagues west of the Azores and
Cape Verde Islands. A convention was afterwards signed between
Spain and Portugal at Tordesillas, removing the line seventy leagues
further westward.

Martin V. had made a similar grant to the Portuguese in the East
Indies in 1420, which was afterwards confirmed by Nicholas V. and
Calixtus III. Orozco y Berra observes that, whatever may be thought
to-day of such a concession, it is certain that it gave an undoubted
right to the sovereigns thus favoured, which nobody, whether nation,
king, or philosopher, disputed at that time. Pope Alexander's bull
had the condition attached, that the natives of the countries discovered
should be Christianised.

Such, therefore, was the high authority on which the "require-
ment" was based. The form of this document was invented, and
drawn up, by Dr. Palacios Rubios, a jurisconsul, and member of the
Royal Council, for the use of Pedrarias de Avila, coming afterwards
to'serve in the other colonies.

The requirement began thus: "On the part of the King Fernando,
and of the Queen Dona Juana, his daughter. Queen of Castile, Leon,
etc. , rulers of the barbarous natives : we their servants notify and
make it known, to you, as best we can, that the living and eternal God,
our Lord, created the heavens and the earth, and a man and a woman,
of whom you, and we, and all men in the world are descendants, as well
as all who shall come after us. However, because of the multitude
of generations issuing from these, in the five thousand years since the
creation of the world, it was necessary that some should go one way,
and some another, and that they should be divided into many king-
doms and provinces, as they could not maintain themselves in one.
God, our Lord gave the charge of all these poeple to one called St.
Peter, that he should be lord and superior over all men in the world,
and that all should obey him, and that he should be the head of all the
human race, and should love all men of whatsoever land, religion, and
belief ; and He gave him the world for his kingdom ordering his seat to be

VOL. I. — 12 177

lyS Letters of Cortes

placed in Rome, as the place best suited for ruling the world ; but he
was permitted also to establish his seat in any other part of the world,
and to judge and govern all peoples. Christians, Moors, Jews, Gentiles,
and of whatsoever other sect or creed they might be'' etc. (Orozco y
Berra, vol. iv., p. 86.).

The provisions of the bull giving the dominion over America to
the Spanish sovereigns then followed.

The notary or clerk who accompanied the expedition read this
unique document, indifferent to the fact that the Indians could not
comprehend a word, even were they near enough to hear, and some-
times the reading would take place with no Indians at all present.
All scruples were satisfied by this formality, and, if submission did not
follow, the commander dealt with the natives as with obdurate rebels
against the royal authority.

The way for the conquest was already prepared, and the Aztec
historians, as well as the earliest Spanish authorities, record that, for
a number of years, the belief that the hour of the Empire's dissolution
was at hand had been steadily gaining ground, promoted by several
events which were regarded as supernatural warnings of the approach-
ing downfall. The lake of Texcoco had in 1510 risen suddenly, and
inundated the city, without any visible cause or accompanying earth-
quake or tempest ; one of the towers of the great teocalli was destroyed
in 15 1 1 by a mysterious conflagration, which resisted all efforts to
extinguish it; comets, strange lights in the skies, accompanied by shoot-
ing stars, and weird noises, were all interpreted by the astrologers
as portents of gloomy presage. The miraculous resurrection, three
days after her death of Montezuma's sister, the Princess Papantzin
who brought him a prophetic warning from her tomb, is reported at
length by Clavigero (vol. i., p. 289). Legal proofs of this event,
which occurred in 1509, were afterwards forwarded to the Spanish
court. The princess is said to have lived many years, and to have
been the first person to receive Christian baptism which she did in
Tlatelolco, in 1524, being henceforth known as Dona Ana Papantzin,
Her life became a model of Christian virtue. Whatever may have
been the exact nature of this occurrence, the reported miracle doubt-
less rests upon some fact which was interpreted by the Mexicans as
supernatural.

APPENDIX III.

The messengers carried also the first letter of Cortes, which has
never since been found. It could not have differed essentially from
the letter of the magistrates of Vera Cruz, as the one was intended
to confirm the other. Bemal Diaz says that Cortes's letter made no
mention of the discoveries of Cordoba, and Grijalba, and that he
wished all such to be suppressed in the collective letter, though he was
satisfied with its references to himself. After assisting at a mass, said
by Fray Bartolom6 de Olmedo, the two envoys sailed on July i6,
1519, and they took with them the royal fifth of all the gold, besides
the other treasures which Cortes had induced the men to surrender,
in order to make up an imposing gift to the Emperor. By Bemal
Diaz, the sailing date is once given as the i6th of July, and in another
place as the 6th ; Gomara gives the 26th. They were enjoined to sail by
the channel of the Bahamas, and to avoid Cuba, but they disobeyed
this warning, and stopped several days at Marien, where Montejo
had a property near by. They renewed their supplies at this place,
and showed some of the treasure to a servant, besides which, Montejo
also wrote to a former overseer of his, Juan de Reja, who had mean-
while passed into Diego Velasquez's service, and as through him the
governor learned of what was happening, he promptly dispatched
a vessel to overhaul the messengers, and bring them back; but he was
too late. The envoys landed, early in October, 15 12, but Benito Mar-
tin, a friend and agent of Velasquez's, was already advised of their
coming, and lodged a complaint with the Casa de Contractacion in
Seville, in which he described Cortes as a rebel against his superior's
authority, and asked for the arrest of the envoys, and the sequestration
of the letters, and the treasure. He found a ready ally in Rodriguez
de Fonseca, Bishop of Burgos, who was omnipotent as President of
the Royal Council for the Indies, a warm friend and supporter of
Velasquez's, with whose family his own was about to be connected
by a marriage.

Peter Martyr, who was then at Court, and noted every circum-
stance of interest, mentions the arrival of the two envoys in December
as "recent," which might mean that he had only recently heard of it.
All authorities agree that they got a rough reception from the Bishop
of Burgos, and saw the Emperor only in March, 1520, after many
difficulties. This audience was at Tordesillas, where His Majesty
was then paying a visit to his mother, Dona Juana, before proceeding

179

i8o Letters of Cortes

to Santiago de Compostella. Hcmal Diaz would seem to be the
original authority for the erroneous statement that Charles V. was in
Flanders at this time, which has been repeated by many later histo-
rians. Charles had arrived in Spain in Nov. 151 7. Peter Martyr,
however, says that the Emperor had then already seen the gold and
presents from Mexico, which confirms another authority, who states
that while they were stopped by the Bishop in Seville, Martin Cortes,
the father of Fernando, and an oflicial of the Royal Council, who was
friendly, one Nunez contrived to forward duplicates of the despatches
to the Emperor, and a memorial describing the Bishop of Burgos's
behaviour, and the sequestration of the treasures. The Emperor was
well impressed by the letters, and ordered the gifts to be sent on to
him. He was, however, so absorbed with business of importance,
prior to quitting the country for Germany to assume the imperial
crown, that he left without giving a decision. The envoys followed
him to La Coruiia and there exists, in the archives of Simancas, the
deposition given under oath before Dr. Carbajal, member of the Royal
Council for the Indies, by Francisco Fernandez Puertocarrero, dated,
Coniiia, April 30, 1520, copied by Prescott, Appendix VII. The
memorial of Benito Martin is found, according to Prescott, in the collec-
tion of MSS., made by Don Vargas Ponce, sometime president of the
Academy of History.

APPENDIX IV.

Human sacrifices were very general among all the Mexican tribes,
at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, and the description here
given of the horrible temple rites is in no way exaggerated, but is in-
deed rather meagre. The practice is traced, by some historians, to
the tribe of the Mexi, which descended from Tenoch, son of Iztacmix-
coatl, the progenitor of the Nahoa family, but, with what justice,
does not clearly appear, as this people may have received it from some
tribe or race preceding, or allied, to them. Prisoners taken in war
were the most highly prized victims, but failing these, or for the cele-
bration of minor festivals, slaves were easily bought, or were offered by
their owners for the purpose. Small infants were also commonly sold
by their mothers, and instances of free-born men offering them-
selves as victims, for one motive or another, were not unknown.
The victims were frequently drugged, in such wise that they went un-
consciously, or even willingly to the altar. If a great festival, requir-
ing many, and choice, victims, fell in a time of peace, war would be
undertaken upon any frivolous pretext, in order to procure the desired
offerings.

The rites were carefully prescribed, and were of the most solemn
description. Different kinds of sacrificial stones were used for different
classes of victims ; the usual one called techcatlis described by Velad^s
{Rhetorica Christiana) as " Mensa quadrata magna non et splendida
habent singula latera longitudinem trium. ulnarum non absiniilis lapideis
illis qucB inter Romana monumenta ad hunc servantur."

This table-shaped stone was about waist high, and stood as an in-
verted pyramid. Six priests officiated, five of whom held the arms,
legs, and head, of the victim, who was stretched upon the stone in such
wise as to throw his chest well forward. These five had their faces
and bodies painted black, with a white line around the mouth; their
hair was bound up with a leather band, and ornamented with tufts of
coloured papers; their vestment was a white dalmatic, striped with
black.

The sixth priest was the celebrant whose vestment varied according
to the feast, or the deity, to be propitiated. His head was adorned with
coloured plumes, and in his ears were goldenjomaments, set with green
stones, while a blue stone was set in his under lip. Pronouncing the
words of the ritual, he plunged a sharp knife, made of silex, into the
victim's breast, and, quickly thrusting his hand into the opening,

i8i

1 82 Letters of Cortes

tore out the beating heart, which he first elevated, and tlien deposited
at the feet of the image of the god. Sometimes the heart was placed
in a vase, and left standing on the altar, or it might be buried, or pre-
served with divers ceremonies, as a relic, or it might be eaten by the
priests; the fresh blood was smeared on the lips of the idols. If the
victim were a prisoner taken in battle, his head was given to the priests,
to be kept as a trophy, the entrails were fed to the dogs, and the other
parts of the body were cooked with maize, and offered in small pieces
to the guests invited to partake by the giver of the sacrificial feast.

The warrior who had captured the victim in battle could not eat of
the latter's flesh, as a sort of spiritual relationship was held to exist
between them, not dissimilar to that of a sponsor and his god-child in
Christian baptism, or even closer, for the flesh of the victim was con-
sidered also as the very flesh of the captor. The eating of this human
body was not an act of gluttonous cannibalism alone, but was believed
to have mystic significance, the flesh having undergone some mysterious
transmutation, by virtue of the sacrificial rite, and to be really conse-
crated; it was spoken of also, as the true body of the deity, to whom
it was offered, and, also, as the "food of soul." None but chiefs, and
distinguished persons, specially designated, were permitted to partake
of the sacramental feast, which was celebrated with much ceremony
and gravity. If the victim were a slave, the rites were similar, but
simpler. Orozco y Berra, in the first, and the third volumes of his
authoritative work, gives the fullest, and most interesting information
on human sacrifices amongst the Mexicans.

SECOND LETTER

183

SECOND LETTER

Sent to his Sacred Majesty, the Emperor of Our Realm,
by the Captain- General of New Spain, called Doit Fer-
nando Cortes, in which he gives'ian^account of the countries
and innumerable provinces which he has discovered in
Yucatan, from the year 15 19 to the present time, and has
subjected to the Crown of His Royal Majesty. He makes
special relation of a very great, and very rich, province
called Culua, in which there are many great cities, and
marvellous edifices, having much commerce and wealth.
Amongst these there is one more i marvellous nnd richer
than all the others, called Temixtitan, which by marvellous
art has been built on a great lake; of which city and pro-
vince, a very great lord, called Montezuma, is king; in which,
things, frightful to be heard, were suffered by the Captain,
and the Spaniards. He describes at length the vast do-
minion of the said Montezuma, and its customs and cere-
monies, and how he is served.

Very Great and Powerful, and Very Catholic Prince,
Most Invincible Emperor, Our Lord. In a ship, which I
despatched from this Your Sacred Majesty's New Spain,
on the sixteenth of July 15 19, I sent to Your Royal High-
ness 'a very long and particular account of everything
which had happened from the time of my arrival here
until that time; this said account was taken by Alonzo
Hernandez Puertocarrero, and Francisco de Montejo,
procurators of the Rica Villa de la Vera Cruz, which
I had founded in the name of Your Royal Highness.

185

1 86 Letters of Cortes

Having had no opportunity since then, not only for the
want of ships, and being myself occupied in the con-
quest and pacification of this country, but also because
nothing has been heard of the said ships and the pro-
curators, I have related nothing more to Your Majesty
concerning what has since been done. God knows the
pain which this has caused me, for I have washed that
Your Highness should understand the affairs of this
country, which is so great and important, since, as I have
already said in my other account, it is no less worthy
to warrant your assuming anew the title of Emperor, than
is Germany, of which, by the grace of God, Your Sacred
Majesty already possesses the title.

It would entail going on indefinitely, were I to at-
tempt to tell Your Highness all the particulars, and every-
thing relating to these parts and new kingdoms, and
everything in them worthy to be told ; I beg Your Sacred
Majesty to hold me pardoned, if I do not give so full an
account to Your Highness as I ought, because neither
my ability, nor my opportunity at this time, favour my
doing so. I shall, nevertheless, endeavour to tell Your
Highness the truth in the best manner possible, and what,
for the present, is necessary that Your Majesty should
know; and I must like^^dse crave Your Highness' s pardon
if I do not recount all that is necessary, the precise when
and how, and if I should not specify some names, not
only of cities and towns, but also of provinces which,
giving themselves for your subjects and vassals, have
offered their allegiance to Your Majesty. This I beg,
because, in a certain recent misfortune, of which I will
hereafter in this writing give a full account to Your
Highness, I have lost all my papers, and the official
agreements, which I had made with the natives of this
coimtry, besides many other things.

In my other account. Most Excellent Prince, I told
Your Majesty of all the cities and towns which until then

Second Letter 187

had offered themselves to your royal service, and which
I held subjugated and conquered for you. I also men-
tioned that I had information of a great lord called
Montezuma/ of whom the natives of this country had
told me, and who lived, according to their computation
of distances, about ninety or a hundred leagues from
the coast and port where I had disembarked; and that,

> Muteczuma, Motezuma, Motecuhzoma are some of the various
forms used, but, amongst the several spellings of the Aztec sovereign's
name, it seems simpler to adopt the one sanctioned by the best English
and American usage — Montezuma.

Montezuma Xocoyotzin was one of the six sons of the King Axay-
acatl (a.d. 1469-81), and was unanimously chosen by the electors to
succeed his uncle, Ahuitzotl, from amongst the eligible princes, who,
in that instance, were his own five brothers, and the seven sons of the
deceased emperor. Montezuma II assumed the appellation of "Xoco-
yotzin" upon his accession, signifying "younger," to distinguish him
from the elder Montezuma, Ilhuicamina. Prescott gives his age as
twenty-three at the time of election, but I prefer to follow the authority
of the Tezozomoc MS., given in Orozco y Berra, which states that he
was bom in i486 and was hence thirty-four years old.

His early career was that of a successful soldier, from which he
passed into the priesthood, rising to the grade of a pontiff. At that
time he was held in great veneration by the people, as one who received
revelations from the gods, and his strict life was a model to his fellows.
It is related that, when the news of his election to the imperial throne
was brought to him, he was found sweeping the steps of the temple
whose altars he served. His temperament was theocratic; he ruled
sternly, and ill-brooked opposition, or even counsel, but he was princely
in recompensing faithful service. He had embellished his capital,
but the liberality which built an aqueduct, a hospital, and new temples
in the city, cost the subject provinces dear, and Montezuma being both
despotic and a heavy tax-levier, was more feared than loved by his
people and allies. Loving order, he understood the science of govern-
ment, but his finer qualities were marred by his inordinate pride, and
most of all by the ferocious superstition which finally lost him his throne
and his life. The policy he adopted with Cortes was fatal, and shows us
the pitiful figure of the monarch struggling, not against the power
of an invading force, but taken in the coils of his own superstition, and
reduced to a himible suppliant, offering rich bribes to the man he
could have annihilated. The treasures he thus incautiously exposed,
argued the existence of still greater in reserve, and whetted the Span-
iard's craving for more.

An account of Montezuma's death will be found in a later note.

i88 Letters of Cortes

confiding in the greatness of God, and relying on the
power of Your Ilighness's Royal name, I had decided
to go and see him, wherever he might be. I even re-
member that I ofTered, so far as this lord was concerned,
to accomplish the impossible, for I vowed to Your Royal
Highness, that I would have him prisoner, or dead, or
subject to the Royal Crown of Your Majesty.

With this purpose and determination, I left the city
of Cempoal, * which I had named Seville, on the sixteenth
Cortes Be- '-*^ August, with fifteen horsemen, and three
gins his hundred foot soldiers, all equipped for war, as
March to best I was able, and as time permitted. I left
^^"^° in the town of Vera Cruz, two horsemen, and
one hundred and fifty men, engaged in building a fort,
which I have now almost finished, and I left all that
^(province of Cempoal, and all the neighbouring mountain
N, regions near the said town, which contained some fifty
^thousand warriors, and fifty towns and forts, all well
pacified, and secure, and very devoted as loyal vassals
of Your Majesty, such as they have been, and are,
until now. According to my information, they were
subjects of that lord, Alontezuma, by force, and since a
short time only, and, when they learned from me of Your
Highness' s great and royal power, they declared they
wished to become vassals of Your Royal ]\Iajesty, and my
friends, and they prayed me to protect them against that
great lord, who held them subject by force and tyranny,
and took away their sons, to kill and sacrifice them to their
idols; and making many other complaints against him.
Thus, they are, and have continued, very, firm and loyal
in the service of Your Highness, and I believe they will

' Cempoal. Found with many variations of spelling such as
Cenipoal, Cempoalla, Zempoala, etc. The town was situated between
the two rivers Chatcalacac and Actopan, a little more than a league
from the sea. It was a well built town in the midst of a fertile coun-
try, four leagues from Vera Cruz ; and still preserves its Indian name.
A. Spanish lad of twelve was left at Cempoal to learn the language.

2.

3-
4-

5.
6.

?■
8.

9-

lo.
II.

12,

13-
14.

15-

16.

17.
18.
19.
20.

Montezuma's palace.

Temple of Tezcatlipoca.

Aviary.

Palace of Axayacatl (Spanish quarters).

Great temple.

Palace of Montezuma I., Ilhuicamina,

Palace of Tlilancolqui.

The great square.

Menagerie.

Market-place of Mexico.

Tezoutlalamacoyan (teocalli), present

S. Catherine, Martyr.
Huitznahuac (teocalli).
Meeting-place of Montezuma and Cortes.
Temple of Atzacualco.
Palace of Xacacuico (Quauhtemotzin's residence

during the siege).
Market-place of Tlatelolco.
Temple of Tlatelolco.
Temple of Xoluco.
Bridge of Techautzinco.
Bridge of Tolteacalli (site of the Church of the

Martyrs).

Bridge of Toltecaacaplan (Alvarado's leap).
Audience hall (present church of banta Ana).
Temple of Cihuatecpan or Xochotilla (present S.

Francisco).
Teniple of Coyonacazco also called Amaxac.
Tetinantitech : final stand of the Mexicans, where

the present Church of the Conception stands.
1 emple of Apahuaztlan.
Temple of Nomoxco.
Temple of Petlacalli.
Fortress of Xoloc.
Nonohualco.
Cuicacolco (teocalli).

PLAN OF MEXICO TENOCHTITLAN

From Conqtiista de Mexico, vol. iv., by Orozco y Berra

Second Letter 189

always remain so, not only to escape from his tyranny,
but also because they have always been well treated and
favoured by me. For the greater security of those
who remained at Vera Cruz I brought some of their
principal men, and some of their people with me, who
have been not a little useful to me on the road.

I believe I have already written to Your Majesty, in
my first account, that some of my company, who had
been servants and friends of Diego Velasquez, were vexed
by what I had accomplished in the service of Your High-
ness, and some of them even wanted to rebel, and desert
me in the country; especially four Spaniards who were
called Juan Escudero, Diego Cermefio, a pilot, Gonzalo
de Ungria, also a pilot, and Alonzo Pefiate. These, as they
voluntarily confessed, had determined to seize a brigan-
tine, then in the port, with a certain quantity of bread
and meat, to kill the master of it, and return to the island
of Femandina, that they might report to Diego Velasquez
that I was sending to Your Royal Highness the ship, which
I sent with what it contained, and the course it would
take. This was to enable the said Diego Velasquez to
put ships on guard, for the purpose of capturing it, as
he did when he afterwards came to know it, for, as I
was informed, he sent a caravel after the said ship, which
would have been captured, if it had not already passed.
And they likewise confessed, that other persons shared
the same wish to warn the said Diego Velasquez. Having
seen the confessions of these delinquents, I punished them
according to justice, and as it seemed to me the needs
of the times, and the interests of Your Royal Highness's
service demanded.

Besides those, who acted thus because they were
servants and friends of Diego Velasquez, there Destruction
were otherswho,., wanted to leave on see- of the

ing how large and populous the country ^^®®*

was, while the Spaniards were so few. Believing

I go Letters of Cortes

that, if I k'ft the sliips there, they would revolt \vith
them, and, all those of like mind deserting, I would be
left almost alone, by which the great service which I had
rendered to God and Your Highness in this country would
be undone, I determined, on the pretext that they were
unseaworlhy, to have the said ships beached. ^ Thus,
everybody lost hope of ever leaving the country, and I
set out on my march, securely, without fear that, when
I turned my back, the people whom I had left in the
town would fail me.

Eight or ten days after having beached the ships, and
when I had gone to the city of Cempoal, which is about
four leagues distant, whence to continue my march, they
brought me news in that town, that four ships were
running along the coast, and that the captain, whom I
had left there, had gone out to them in a boat. I had

> The destruction of the ships is one of the most dramatic epi-
sodes in the eventful history of the conquest, and Cortes, in reporting
it to the Emperor, assumes exclusively the credit of the heroic decision
and its execution, but throughout his narrative he is chary of ever
mentioning anybody but himself. Gomara naturally gives the same
account and Prescott accepts his version, as do other reputable his-
torians. Bemal Diaz, who figures always as the great objector and
corrector, contradicts this account very positively, and says that the
destruction of the ships was decided upon after a general discussion,
and that Cortes was unwilling to accept any responsibility either for
their demolition or for their cost if there should later arise a necessity to
pay for them to their rightful owners. He refutes with emphatic scorn
Gomara's assertion that Cortes feared to tell the soldiers of his inten-
tion to push into the interior in search of the great Montezuma, ex-
claiming: " What sort of Spaniards are we, not to want to push ahead,
but to stop where we had no hardships or fighting!" The Relacion
of Andres de Tapia (who was also an eye-witness) agrees with Bemal
Diaz. Puertocarrero replied in La Coruna in the same sense as his
companion Monte jo (April 29, 1520), stating that the proposal to de-
stroy all but three of the ships came from the captains of them, who
declared them to be unseaworthy, and even the three to be of doubtful
value. Puertocarrero and Montejo sailed, as has been said, on July
1 6th, with the treasure and the letters which were dated July loth, so
that the discovery of the conspiracy, and the punishment of its authors,
and the destruction of the ships, all took place in those six days.

Second Letter 191

been told that they belonged to Francisco de Garay/
Lieutenant, and Governor of the Island of Jamaica, and
had come to make discoveries. My captain had told
them, that I had already settled the country in the name
of Your Highness, and had laid out a town about a league
from where the said ships were, where they could go and
make their arrival known to me, and there make any
repairs they might need. He said he would conduct
them in his barque to the port, pointing out to them
where it was. They had answered him, that they had
already seen the port, having passed in front of it, and
that they would do as he said, so he had returned with
the barque, but the ships had not followed him nor come
to the port. They had still sailed along the coast, and, as
they had not entered the port, he did not know what object

Clavigero believes that Cortes induced some of the pilots to scuttle
one or two of the ships, and to then come to him representing the others
as unseaworthy from being three months in port.

Senor Orozco y Berra is doubtless right in believing that the idea
of destroying the ships originated with Cortes, who adroitly suggested
it in such wise, and with such arguments, that it came back to him as a
spontaneous proposal from the others, prompted, or at least supported
by the opinions of the pilots and ship-captains that the vessels were
unsound. Such artifice was not alien to his diplomacy, for he usually
contrived that he should appear to interpret the popular will as well
as to serve the royal interests in all his undertakings.

» Francisco de Garay sailed with Columbus on his second voyage.
Las Casas speaks of his great wealth, and says that he had five thousand
Indians solely to look after his pigs. He went to Spain as procurator for
San Domingo, and returned as Lieut-Governor of Jamaica. When the
news of the Cordoba and Grijalba expeditions became the excitement
of the day, Garay sent out an exploring party under command of Diego
de Camargo. This discovered the Panuco region, and, continuing
thence about one hundred leagues towards Florida, finally returned
to Jamaica. The Emperor Charles V. granted him faculties for further
enterprises, and the title of adelantado of the new countries he dis-
covered. Garay was one of the most cruel oppressors of the Indians
and it was said of him that he came, not to populate, but to depopulate,
Jamaica. This expedition, of which Cortes writes, was composed of
four ships carrying two hundred and seventy men, with horses and
cannon, and had sailed from Jamaica towards the close of 15 18, under
command of Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda.

192 Letters of Cortes

they had in \'ie\v. Within an hour after hearing what
the said captain made known to me, I left for Vera Cruz,
where I learned that the ships were anchored about three
leagues down the coast, and that no one had landed. I
then went along the coast with some people, to recon-
noitre, and, when I was about one league from the ships,
I met three men from them, amongst whom there was
one who called himself a notary public, who told me he
had brought the other two as witnesses to a certain noti-
fication and requirement with which he said their captain
had ordered him to serve me on his behalf, and which
he had brought w4th him. They desired to make it
known to me, that he had discovered that country, and
\\ished to settle in it, for which reason he required me
to define the boundaries with him, as he wished to make
his settlement down the coast five leagues below Nautical, ^
which is a city now called Almeria, twelve leagues from
Vera Cruz. I answered that their captain should come
with his ships to the port of Vera Cruz, where we could
talk, and I would learn his intentions, and, if his ships
and people needed anything, I would help them with
what I could. Inasmuch as he said that he had come in
the service of Your Sacred Majesty, I only desired that
occasion should be given me to serve Your Highness,
and, in helping him, I believed that I would do this.
They replied, that neither the captain, nor any of his
people, would on any account land an}n,\'here that I
might be.

Believing that they must have done some harm in
the country, inasmuch as they were afraid to come before
me, when night came on I hid myself near the coast, op-
posite to where the said ships were anchored. There
I remained concealed until the next day about noon,
expecting the captain or his pilot to come on shore, from

> The present Nautla in the state of Vera Cruz ; Pineda named it

Almeria.

Second Letter 193

whom I would learn what they had been doing, and where
they had been, intending, that if they had done any harm
in the country, to send them to Your Sacred Majesty; but
neither they nor anyone else ever landed. Seeing that
they did not come, I made some of my Spaniards put
on the clothes of those who had come to make me the
requirements, and directed them to go to the beach, and
signal to those on board the ships. As soon as these
were observed by those on board, a barque, carrying some
ten or twelve men, armed with arquebuses and muskets,
came towards the land. The Spaniards who were calling
from the shore retired from the beach to some bushes
near by, as if to take shelter in their shade, and thus four
landed, two men with arquebuses, and two with muskets.
These were surrounded, and taken prisoners by the people
whom I had placed on the beach. One of the captives,
the master of the ship, tried to fire his weapon, and would
have killed my captain of Vera Cruz, but that, by Our
Lord's will, the fuse did not burn. Those who had re-
mained in the boat, put to sea, but before they could
reach their ships, sail had been set, without waiting, or
troubling to hear anything about them.

I learned from my prisoners, how they had arrived at
a river, ^ which is some thirty leagues down the coast, after
passing Almeria, and had had a good reception there
from the natives, and had traded for some provisions,
and seen some gold which the Indians wore, although it
was scarce, that they had obtained by trading, as much
as [three thousand castellanos^ worth of gold, and that
they had not landed, but had seen certain towns on the
banks of the river so near, that they could distinguish
them well from the ships, and that there were no buildings
of stone, the houses being of thatch, but very high and
well built. All this I knew more fully afterwards, through

1 The Panuco.

2 The casiellano was equivalent to $1,167.

VOL. I. — 13

194 Letters of Cortes

that great lord Montezuma, and from certain interpreters
from that country whom he had about him.

I took these men, and an Indian whom they had
brought in their ships from the said river, and sent
_ otiati ns ^h^"^- with Other messengers of the said Monte-
with the zuma, to the lord of that river, called Panuco,
Cacique of to win him to Your Sacred Majesty's service,
anuco With them, he sent me back a chief who, it
was said, was chief of a town, who brought me on behalf
of his lord certain stuffs, and stones, and feathers,
telling me that he and all his people would be very happy
to become vassals of Your Majesty, and my friends. I in
turn presented them with some things from Spain, which
so satisfied him, that, when some other ships of the said
Francisco de Garay arrived (of which I will make relation
to Your Highness hereafter), the said Panuco sent me
word that those ships were in another river, some five
or six days' journey from that place, asking that I should
tell him whether those who had come in them belonged to
me, so that he might give them whatever they needed,
and that he already had sent some women and chickens
and other provisions. I marched, Very Powerful Lord,
three days through the country and lordship of Cempoal,
where I was well received, and entertained by the natives,
and, on the fourth day, I arrived in the province called
Sienchimalen, ^ where there is a very strong town ably
fortified. It is situated on the side of a steep mountain
slope, and is approached by a single pass of steps, by
which it is impossible to enter except on foot, and
even thus with great difficulty, if the natives wished to
defend it.

In the plains, there are many hamlets and villages,
with five, three, and two hundred families, which will
furnish altogether some five or six thousand warriors; and
they are subject to the rule of Montezuma. Here, they

> Xochimilco was the correct name ; it is now called Xico.

Second Letter 195

received me very well, and courteously gave me the
necessary provisions for my march, saying that they knew
very well I was going to see Montezuma their lord, and
that I might rest assured he was my friend, for he had
ordered them, in every case, to give me a good reception,
as by so doing they would render him a service. I
thanked them for their courtesy, saying that Your
Majesty already knew of Montezuma, and had ordered
me to visit him.

I next crossed a pass, which is at the end of this
province, and to which we gave the name of Puerto del
Nombre de Dios, ^ on account of its being the first we
have traversed in this country. So steep, and so high, is
it, that in all Spain there is none so difficult. I passed
with entire safety, and without any opposition, and, on the
descent of the said pass, there are other hamlets belong-
ing to a town and fort, called Ceycocnacan,^ which also
belongs to Montezuma. Here we were as well received
as we had been at Sienchimalen, and the people repeated
what the others had told us of Montezuma's good will,
and I satisfied them in the same manner.

Thence I travelled three days through a desert, which,
on account of its sterility, and want of water, and the
very great cold which prevails, is uninhabitable; where
God knows all the trouble which the men suffered from
hunger and thirst, especially from tempests of hail and
rain which overtook us, making me fear that many people
would die of cold; and certain Indians from the Island of
Fernandina did die, because they were ill-clad. At the
end of these three days, we traversed another pass, ^
although not so steep as the first one, on the top of which
was a small tower Hke an oratory, where were kept certain

» Now called Paso del Obispo.

* Another name which is spelled according to the caprice of each
writer; its proper name was Ixhuacan, now spelled Ishuacan, and
the tower is some ten leagues from Xalapa.

3 Identified, with probability, as the Sierra del Agua.

i9^> Letters of Cortes

idols, and around the tower were more than a thousand
loads of cut wood, very well piled up, so we named it
the Paso de la Lena. On the descent of the said pass,
between some very rough mountain chains, there is a
very populous valley, the people of which seem to be
poor.

After having marched about three leagues through the
settlement without seeing anything of them, I arrived at
a somewhat more level place, where it seemed the chief
of that valley lived, and which had the largest and best
built houses we had till then seen in this country, for
they were of hewn stone, quite new, and had very large
and beautiful rooms, and many well-arranged apartments.
This valley and its people are called Caltanmi.^ I was
very well received, and lodged by the chief and his
people. After having spoken to him on the part of Your
Majesty, and told him the cause of my coming to these
parts, I asked him if he also was a vassal of Montezuma's,
or if he belonged to some other dominion. He, wondering
at what I asked him, answered me, "And who is not a
vassal of Montezuma's?" as much as to say that he was
the sovereign of the world. I then replied, and told him
about the vast power and jurisdiction of Your Majesty,
and of all the many and greater lords than Montezuma
who were vassals of Your Highness, even considering it as
no small privilege to be so, as would Montezuma, and all
the natives of these parts, likewise have to be; and thus
I required him to be because he would then be much
honoured and favoured, while on the contrary if he were
unmlling to obey he would be punished. In recognition
of his vassalage, I asked him to give me some gold to be
sent to Your Majesty, when he answered that he had

' The name of the valley was Caltanmic, and that of the town,
Xocotla; its chief, Olintetl, was so enormous that he had to be sup-
ported when he walked. The Spaniards named him the "trembler."
There was a strong Mexican garrison at Xocotla, as it was a fortified
place on the frontiers of hostile Tlascala.

Second Letter 197

gold, but would not give it unless Montezuma commanded
him to do so, but that, if the latter did so order, then he
would give the gold, and his person, and all that he
possessed. In order not to scandalise him, nor to hinder
my designs and progress, I dissembled with him the
best I could, saying that very soon Montezuma would
order him to give the gold and ever3rthing he had.

The two other chiefs who had lands in this valley came
to see me here, one of whom lived four leagues below, and
the other two leagues above, and they gave me certain
collars of gold of little weight or value, and seven or
eight female slaves.

' After stopping four or five days there, I left them very
contented, and went to the city of the other chief, two
leagues, as I said, up the valley which place is called
Yztacmastitan.^ This lordship has an extension of
three or four leagues, one house after another along the
valley, and on the banks of a small river which flows
through it. The house of the chief stands on a very high
hill, protected by a better fort than can be found in half
Spain, well surrounded with walls, and barbicans, and
moats, and, on the top of this hill, there is a tow^n of about
five or six thousand inhabitants, with very large houses,
whose people are somewhat richer than those of the lower
valley. Here I was also very well received, and its chief
told me that he likewise was a vassal of Montezuma. I
stayed in his house three days, not only for the purpose
of resting the people from the hardship they had endured
in the desert, but also to wait for four messengers, natives
of Cempoal, who had come with me, and whom I had sent
from Caltanmi to a very large province called Tascalteca,^

' Ixtacmaxtitlan, in the present state of Puebla. For convenience'
sake the town was removed from the hill-top in 1601 and built on
its present site lower down.

2 Tlascala was a republic composed of four federated states, each
ruled by its chief, while federal affairs and legislation were undertaken
by the Senate, which was composed of the nobles of all four states.

198 Letters of Cortes

which they told me was very near there, as in truth it
was. They had also told me, that the natives of this
province were their friends, and very deadly enemies of
Montezuma, and that they wished me to confederate
with them, as they were a large and powerful people
(whose country was bounded on all sides by that of the said
Montezuma, with whom they were in continual warfare),
and would be glad to help me if the said Montezuma
should oppose me. These messengers did not return
during all the time that I remained in that valley, which
was in all eight days. I asked the others, who had come
with me from Cempoal, how it was that the messengers
did not return, and they answered that it was a great
distance, and that they could not get back so quickly.
Seeing that their return was delayed, and that the
chiefs of Cempoal were so positive about the friend-
ship and fidelity of the people of that province, I set
out for it.

and their over-lords. The city was likewise divided into four districts,
in which people of the separate tribes lived, each under its own chief.
As the country was hemmed in on all sides by the Aztec Empire, there
was no commerce, and the chief pursuit was agriculture. The Tlas-
calans were a brave, hardy, and war-like people, well advanced in mili-
tary science, and having something very like a feudal system of chiv-
alry, in that the different chiefs or lords had each his own standard
and crest, and the soldiers were uniformed in their leaders' colours
and owed him allegiance; Xicotencatl's. device was a white heron on a
rock. There were also orders of knighthood conferred for bravery.
Their important part in the conquest is noticed elsewhere, and will
also appear in the course of Cortes's own narration. One of his first
desires was to force Christianity upon them, but Fray Bartolome de
Olmedo wisely restrained his untimely zeal, and, beyond explaining
the Christian doctrines, no constraint was attempted. The Tlascalans
conceded that the Christian God must very likely be a good one, and
they were ready to admit him to a place in their own pantheon, some-
thing after the manner of the Emperor Hadrian and other Romans.
The four chiefs ruling the confederation at that time were Xicotencatl,
lord of Titzatlan, Maxixcatzin, lord of Ocotelolco, Tlehuexolotzin, lord
of Tepeticpac, and Citlalpopocatzin, lord of Quiahuitztlan. (Clavigero,
Storia Antica, lib. viii.) (Vide, Camarga, Hist. Tlascala; and Torque-
mada, lib. 3-16.)

Second Letter 199

At the exit of the said valley, I found a great wall
of dry stones, about nine feet high, which crossed the
whole valley from one mountain to the other; The Wall of
it was twenty feet thick, and had a stone Tlascala
parapet, a foot and a half broad on the top so that
one could fight from above. The single entrance was
about ten paces broad, and in this entrance one wall
doubled over the other, in the form of a ravelin, narrowly
contracted within about forty paces, in such wise that
the entrance was curved instead of being straight. ^
Having inquired the object of that wall they told me
that it was built because they were on the frontier of that
province of Tascalteca, whose people were Montezuma's
enemies, and constantly at war with him.

The natives of this valley besought me, that, inasmuch
as I was going to see Montezuma their lord, not to pass
through the country of these his enemies, who per-
chance might be ill-disposed towards me, and do me
some mischief, whereas they would guide me always
through the land of the said Montezuma without going
out of it, and that in it I would always be well received.
The Cempoalans, however, advised me not to do this,
but to go through Tascalteca, for what these people were
telling me, was for the purpose of cutting me ofif from
the amity of that province ; they told me that all Monte-
zuma's people were bad and treacherous, and would en-
snare me in places w^hence I could never escape. As I
had more confidence in the Cempoalans than in the

I Bernal Diaz contradicts Cortes's statement that this wall was
built of dry stones, and states that the stones were so firmly united
by such strong bitumen that it required pick axes to separate them.
Clavigero, in his notice on the remains of military architecture in
Mexico (lib. vii. Sec. xxvi.), gives faith to Bernal Diaz who professed
to have carefully studied the construction, though he brusquely char-
acterises the old soldier as an idiot {sic) for not distinguishing between
bitumen and the mortar used by the Mexicans. Lest the ingenious con-
struction of the aperture be not clearly enough explained by Cortes,
the accompanying drawing will show its character.

200 Letters of Cortes

others, I took their advice, and chose the road to Tas-
calteca, conducting my people with the best caution I
could.

Accompanied by about six horsemen, I rode ahead
about half a league or more, little thinking of what after-
wards happened, but to reconnoitre the country, so that
if anything should befall I might perceive it in time to
take measures, and prepare my people. After having
gone four leagues, and while ascending the hill, two
horsemen who went ahead saw certain Indians, wearing
the feathers they are accustomed to in war, armed with
their swords, and lances, and rodelas, who took to flight
when they perceived the horsemen. At the same time I
came up, and had them called to to return without fear.
I advanced to where there were about fifteen Indians, who,
massing themselves, began to attack us with their swords,
calling to their other people who were in the valley, and
fighting mth us in such wise that they killed two horses,
and wounded three others and two horsemen. In the
midst of this, others came up, numbering about four to
five thousand. Meantime, eight other horsemen, besides
those whose horses were killed, joined me, charging on
them until the other Spaniards, to whom I had sent
a summons by a horseman, arrived. We did them some
harm, in the charges we made, killing fifty or sixty of
them, \\dthout suffering any hurt ourselves, although
they fought with great courage and daring; but, as we
were all on horseback, we could charge them, and fall
back in safety. When they saw our reinforcements
approaching, they retreated, because they were so few,
and left us the field.

After they were gone certain messengers came, who
said they were the lords of the said province, and with
them came two of the messengers whom I had sent.
These explained that the said chiefs did not know any-
thing of what those others had done, as they belonged to

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Second Letter 201

independent communities, and had acted without their
consent, and they were very sorry for it, and would pay
for the horses they had killed, and they wished to be my
friends, and that I could go on freely, for I would be well
received by them [in hora buena, viz., in a good hour],
I answered that I was very thankful to them, and that
I would consider them as my friends, and would advance
as they advised.

That night, one league beyond where this happened,
I was obliged to sleep in a dry river bed [baranca], not
only because it was late, but also because my Hostilities
people were tired. I stayed there as well i» Tlascala
guarded as possible, stationing my sentinels and scouts,
both on horseback and on foot, and at daybreak I left,
carrying my van-guard and rear-guard well organised,
and my scouts on ahead.

Arriving at a very bmall village just at sunrise, the two
other messengers came with lamentations saying that
they had been bound, and w^ould have been killed, but
that they had escaped in the night. At not two stone' s-
throws distance a great number of Indians appeared well
armed, and with much shouting began to attack us, dis-
charging many darts and arrows at us. When I under-
took to make my requirements in due form, through the
interpreters whom I had brought with me, and before a
notary public, the more diligent I was to admonish and
require them to keep the peace, just so much the more
diligent were they in committing hostilities upon us, and,
seeing that neither requirements nor protests were of any
avail, we began to defend ourselves as best we could, and
thus they kept us fighting, until we found ourselves in the
midst of an hundred thousand warriors, who surrounded
us on all sides. This went on all day long, until about
an hour before sunset, when they retired. In this fight I
did them a good deal of harm with about half a dozen
cannon, and five or six muskets, forty archers, and thirteen

202 Letters of Cortes

horsemen, who had been left to me, without our receiving
any hurt from them, except the labour and fatigue of
fighting and hunger. And it truly appeared that it was
God who battled for us, because amongst such a multi-
tude of people, so courageous, and skilled in fighting, and
with so many kinds of offensive arms, ^ we came out
unhurt.

That night I fortified myself in a small tower of their
idols, which stood on a small hill, and afterwards, at
daybreak, I left two hundred men and all the artillery
in the camp. As I was the attacking party I went out
towards evening with the horsemen, and a hundred
foot soldiers, and four hundred Indians whom I had
brought from Cempoal, and three hundred from Yztac-
mastitan. Before the enemy had time to assemble, I set
fire to five or six small places of about a hundred houses
each, and brought away about four hundred prisoners,
both men and women, fighting my way back to my camp
without their doing me any harm. At daybreak the
following morning, more than a hundred and forty-nine
thousand men, covering all the country, attacked our
camp so determinedly that some of them penetrated

' One of their most formidable weapons was the maquahuitl,
commonly referred to by the Spaniards as a sword. It was a stout
stick or club, about three and a half feet long, set with a double row
of blades made of the stone called itztli, as sharp as razors. The war-
rior carried this terrible weapon attached to his wrist by a thong, and
instances of a horse being disembowelled, or even decapitated at a
single blow, are given by many early writers. The blades or itztli
were quickly dulled, but, even then, such a weapon wielded by a strong
man was a fearsome thing.

Their darts, which are so frequently mentioned, were short lances,
whose points were tipped with bone or copper, or simply hardened in
the fire. Clavigero identifies them with the Roman Jaculum or
Telum Amentatum, and says they were the weapons most feared by
the Spaniards. As marksmen, the Mexican bowmen were marvel-
lously quick and accurate ; their arrows were also pointed with bone, but,
singularly enough, there is no mention throughout the conquest of
poison being used on them.

Second Letter 203

into it, rushing about, and thrusting with their swords
at the Spaniards. We mustered against them, and Our
Lord was pleased so to aid us, that, in about four hours,
we managed that they should no more molest us in our
camp, although they still kept up some attacks; thus we
kept fighting until it grew to be late, when they retired.

The next day I again went out before daybreak, in
another direction, without having been observed by the
enemy, taking with me the horsemen, a hundred foot-
soldiers, and the friendly Indians. I burned more than a
hundred villages, one of which had more than three thou-
sand houses, where the villagers fought with me, though
there were no other people there. As we carried the
banner of the Holy Cross, ^ and were fighting for our
Faith, and in the service of Your Sacred Majesty, to Your
Royal good fortune God gave us such a victory that we
slew many people without our own sustaining any injury.
A little after mid-day when the strong force of the people
was gathered from all parts, we had returned victorious
to our camp.

Messengers came from the chiefs the next day, saying
that they wished to become vassals of Your Highness and
my friends, beseeching me to pardon their past fault;
and they brought me provisions, and certain feather-
work which they use, and esteem and prize. I answered
that they had behaved badly, but that I was satisfied to
be their friend, and pardon them for all they had done.

The next day there came about fifty Indians, who,
it seemed, were men of some consequence amongst
them, saying that they had brought us food, pate of the
and they went about inspecting the entrances Tlascalan
and exits of our camp, and some huts in ^P^®^

which we were living. The Cempoalans came and

» The banner was of black silk bearing the arms of Charles V.,
and on both sides a red cross surrounded by blue and white rays. The
legend was as follows : Amici sequamur Crucem et si nos fidem habemus
vere in hoc signo viceremus.

204 Letters of Cortes

told me to watch them, because they were bad men
who had come to spy and see what damage they
could do us, and that I might rest assured they had come
for no other purpose. With some dissimulation, I had
one of them taken, without being observed by the others,
and leading him and the interpreters apart, frightened
him so that he should tell me the truth. He confessed
to me that Sintengal, ^ the captain-general of this
province, was behind one of the hills opposite the camp,
with a great number of people, ready to fall upon us
that night, for they said that they had tried by day
against us, and had gained no advantage, and now they
wished to try by night, when their people would fear
neither our horses, our cannon, nor our swords; and they
had been sent in order to examine our camp, and those
points where they could attack us, and how they could
burn the straw huts. I at once had another of the said
Indians taken, and also asked him, and he confessed the
same as the other in the same words, so I took another
five or six, and they all agreed in their statements. See-
ing this I had all the fifty taken, and cut off their hands,
and returned them to their chief, ordering them to sav
to him, that, by day or night or at any or all times he
might come, he would see who we were. I then had my
camp fortified as best I could, and posted the people as
seemed most suitable, and we rested thus on our guard
until sunset.

When it was growing late, our opponents began to
descend into two valleys, thinking they were surrounding
us secretly, and to get nearer to us for carrying out their

' Xicotencatl, son of the lord of Titzatlan, was a brave and able
commander. He bore the same name as his father, which has led
some writers to merge the two into one person, and others to confuse
their deeds. The father was a very old man, though he was pro-
bably not one hundred and forty years old, as some have stated,
when he met Cortes he asked to be allowed to feel his face, for he
was blind.

Second Letter 205

intentions. As I was on my guard, however, I saw them,
and it seemed to me that it would be very dangerous to
allow them to approach near the camp, because at night
they could not see the damage I should do them from my
side, and they would approach fearlessly, and also because
in not seeing them some of the Spaniards might be some-
what negligent in fighting. I also feared that they might
set fire to my camp, which should it happen would be
most disastrous, and none of us could escape; hence I
determined to go out and meet them with all the horsemen
and cut them to pieces, thus preventing their ap-
proach. And so it happened, that when they discovered
we were coming with horses to attack them, without stop-
ping or shouting, they fled into some fields of maize, with
which the country was almost covered, and lightened
themselves of some provisions which they were carr3dng
with them, for the feast they intended to celebrate, if
this time they destroyed us entirely. They left us in
security that night. After this occurrence, I remained
several days without leaving camp, except in the neigh-
bourhood, to repel the approach of some Indians who
gathered to jeer at us, and provoke some skirmishes.

When we had somewhat rested, I made a sally one
night, after having inspected the first watch of the guard,
taking a hundred foot, the friendly Indians, and the
horsemen; and about a league from our camp five horses
and mares fell, unable to go on, so I sent them back.
Although those who accompanied me, said that I ought
to return, as this was an evil omen, I still pushed ahead,
confiding in God's supremacy above everything. Before
daybreak I fell upon two towns, in which I slaughtered
many people, but I did not want to burn the houses, so as
to avoid attracting the attention of other people who
were very near. / When day dawned I fell upon another
large town, which contained according to a count, which
I ordered to be taken, more than twenty thousand houses.

2o6 Letters of Cortes

and, as I had surprised them, I found them unarmed,
and the women, and children, running naked through
the streets; and we did them some harm. Seeing they
could offer no resistance, a certain number of the in-
habitants came to beseech me not to do them further
injury, for they desired to become vassals of Your High-
ness, and my friends, and they recognised that they were
at fault in not having trusted me, but that henceforth I
would see that they would always do what I commanded
them in the name of Your Royal Highness, as your very
true vassals. Immediately there came to me more than
four thousand of them, suing for peace, and they took us
out to a fountain where they gave us good food.

Thus I left them pacified, and returned to our camp,
where I found the people who had remained there much
frightened, believing I might have been in some danger,
as they had seen the horses and mares returning the night
before. ^Vhen they heard afterwards of the victory
which God had been pleased to give us, and how I had
left those towns at peace, they were very glad, for I
certify to Your Majesty, that there was no one amongst
us who was not very fearful at penetrating so far into this
country, and amongst so many people, where we were so
entirely without hope of help from an}'"vvhere.

Indeed I had already heard with my own ears, pri-
vately, as well as publicly, that I was a Pedro Carbonero, ^
who had got them into this difficulty from which they
could never get out. And even more, I heard it said in
one of the huts of certain companions (I being in a place
where they could not see me), that if I had gone mad, and
was going whence I could never escape, they need not
do the same, but should rather return to the sea-coast,
and that if I wished to return with them, very well, but if

> An old proverb which said: "Pierre le Charbonnier savait hien
ou il Hait, mats il ignorait le moyen d'en sortir"; pointing at foolish
people who were always plunging into difficulties from which they never
knew how to emerge.

Second Letter 207

not, to leave me. This was often required of me, but I
would encourage them, telling them to look to it that
they were the vassals of Your Highness, and that Span-
iards were never found lacking anywhere, and that we
were in a position to win the greatest kingdoms and
dominions in the world for Your Majesty. I told them,
moreover, that we were only doing what we were obliged
to do as Christians, by fighting against the enemies of our
faith, and that we would gain the glory of the other world,
while in this we would obtain the highest praise and
honour, such as till our time no generation had won ; and
that they must perceive that we had God on our side, for
Whom nothing was impossible, as they might recognise
in the victories which we had obtained, where so many
of our enemy had been slaughtered, but none of us. I
told them other things of the same kind which seemed
fitting, and with these, and the royal favour of Your
Highness, they recovered their spirits, and I won them
to my purpose, and to do as I wished, which was to
complete the undertaking I had begun.

The following day, Sicutengal, Captain General of
this province, came to see me at ten o'clock, with
about fifty of its chiefs, praying me on his Peace Con-
part, and on that of Magiscatzin, ^ who was eluded at
the principal person in all this province, and Tlasca a
on behalf of many other lords, that I would admit
them to the royal service of Your Majesty and to my
friendship, and would pardon them the past errors,
because they had not understood who we were. He said
that they had exerted all their forces, not only by day,
but also by night, to escape being subjected to anyone,
since at no time had this province ever been so, nor had
they ever had, nor did they have, any master; on the
contrary, they had always lived free and independent,

» Maxixcatzin, lord of the state of Ocotelolco, in the republic of
Tlascala, and commander in chief of the united armies.

2o8 Letters of Cortes

since immemorial times, and had always defended them-
selves against the great power of Montezuma, of his
father, and grandfather, who held that country subjected,
but had never been able to hold them in subjection,
though they had them surrounded on all sides, so that
no one could go out of the country. He said also that
they ate no salt, ^ since there was none in their country,
nor were they allowed to go to buy it anywhere else, nor
did they wear any cotton clothing, because their country,
on account of its cold, did not produce cotton, and they
were deprived of many other things on account of being
so shut ofT. They had endured it, and held it as better
thus to be free, rather than be subjected to anyone; and
they had wanted to do the same with me, for which rea-
son, as several had already stated, they had tested their
forces, and seeing clearly that neither these, nor their
artifices, could avail them anything, had decided that,
rather than die, and have their houses, and women, and
children destroyed, they would become vassals of Your
Highness.

I satisfied them, saying that they must recognise that
they were to blame for the injury they had sustained,
for I had come to their country, thinking that I came to
the country of my friends, for the Cempoalans had as-
sured me that they were, and wished to be so ; and that I
had sent my messengers ahead of me to let them know
that I was coming and wished their friendship, and that
without replying to me (coming in all security) , they had
attacked me on the road, killed my two horses, and

> Called by the Indians "tequesquit." It is made from the
saltpetre, which was largely found in the neighbourhood of Ixtapala-
pan and Ixtapaluca {Ixtabl meaning saltpetre), and formed an import-
ant article of commerce, which however did not reach the Tlascalans
on account of the permanent state of hostilities. As they were also
cut off from the sea, salt had been for fifty years an almost unknown
luxury amongst them ; cotton which was a product of the tierra caliente
was for the same reason denied them.

Second Letter 209

wounded others. Moreover, after having fought, with
me, they had sent their messengers, saying that what
had happened had been without their Hcense or consent,
and that certain communities had set themselves to do
it without their participation, and that they had re-
proved them for it, and desired my friendship. Be-
lieving this to be true, I had told them that I was pleased,
and that they would surely see me next day in their
homes as in the houses of friends; and that Hkewise they
had again attacked me on the road, and fought with me
all day until night overtook us, notwithstanding that
they had been required by me to keep the peace. I re-
minded them of all the other things they had done to
oppose me, and many others which I shall leave im-
mentioned, so as not to weary Your Highness. Finally
they submitted and acknowledged themselves as sub-
jects and vassals of Your Majesty, offering their persons
and property for your royal service; and such they did>
and have done until to-day, and will always do, as Your
Majesty will hereafter see.

I remained six or seven days without leaving that
place and camp, because I did not dare to trust them.
They besought me to come to a large city. Description
where all the chiefs of the province lived, of the City
and even the chiefs themselves came to be- o^^iascaia
seech me to come into the city, as I would be well
received there, and better provided with everything
necessary than in the camp. For they were ashamed that
I should be so ill-lodged, as they considered me their
friend, and they and I were vassals of Your Highness.
In response to their prayers, I came to the city, which is
about six leagues distant from the dwelling place and
camp I had occupied, and is so large and admirable that,
although much of what I might say I shall omit, the little
which I shall say is almost incredible ; for it is much larger
than Granada, and very much stronger, having very

VOL. I. 14

2IO Letters of Cortes

good buildings, and it contains a great many more people
than Granada did when it was taken, and is much better
supplied with provisions, such as bread, birds, game, and
river-fish, and other good eatables and vegetables. There
is a market in this city, in which every day, above thirty
thousand souls sell and buy, without counting many
other small markets in different parts of the city. Every-
thing is to be found in this market in which they trade,
and could need, not only provisions, but also clothing
and shoes. There are jewellery shops, for gold, and
silver, and stones, and other valuables of feather- work, as
well arranged as can be found in any of the squares or
market-places of the world ; there is also as good earthen-
ware and crockery as the best in Spain. They also sell
wood and coals, and herbs to eat, and for medicinal
purposes. There are houses like barbers' shops, where
they wash their heads and shave themselves; there
are also baths. Finally there prevail good order and
politeness, for they are a people full of intelligence and
understanding, and such that the best in Africa does
not equal them. This province contains many extensive
and beautiful valleys, well tilled and sown, and none
are uncultivated. The province is ninety leagues in
circumference, and, as far as I have been able to judge
about the foiTn of government, it is almost like that of
Venice, or Genoa, or Pisa, because there is no one supreme
ruler. There are many lords all living in this city, and
the people who are tillers of the soil are their vassals,
though each one has his lands to himself, some more
than others. In undertaking wars, they all gather
together, and thus assembled they decide and plan them.
It is believed that they must have some system of justice
for punishing the wicked, because one of the natives of
this province stole some gold from a Spaniard, and I told
this to that Magiscatzin, the greatest lord among them.
After making their investigation, they pursued him to

Second Letter 211

a city which is near there, called Churultecal, whence
they brought him prisoner, and delivered him to me with
the gold, telling me that I might chastise him. I thanked
them for the diligence they took in this, but told them
that, inasmuch as I was in their country, they might
chastise him according to their custom, and that I did not
wish to meddle with the punishment of their people
while I was in their country. They thanked me for this,
and took him with a public crier, who proclaimed his
offence, leading him through the great market place,
where they put him at the foot of a sort of theatre, and
with a loud voice again published his offence. And all
having seen him, they beat him on the head with sticks
until they killed him. We have seen many others in the
prisons, who, it is said, were confined there for thefts,
and other offences they had committed. According to the
visitation which I ordered to be made, this province has
five hundred thousand householders, besides those of
another small province, called Guazincango, which joins
it, whose people live as these do, without a rightful
sovereign, and are no less vassals of Your Highness than
these Tascaltecas.

Being, Most Catholic Lord, in our camp in the country
while I was at warfare with this province, there came
to me six lords from amongst the principal „
vassals of Montezuma, accompanied by about andPres-
two hundred retainers, telling me that they ents from
came on the part of Montezuma to say that ^o'^tezuma
he wished to be a vassal of Your Highness, and
my friend. He sent word that I should say what I
wanted him to give to Your Highness as an annual trib-
ute, of gold, silver, stones, slaves, cotton, and wearing
apparel, and other possessions, and that he would give it
all, if only I would not come to his country, because it
was very sterile, and destitute of provisions, and he would
be sorry if I or my people suffered want. He sent me by

212 Letters of Cortes

them about a thousand dollars of gold, and many pieces
of cotton clothing, such as they wear. They remained
with me during the war and until the end of it, and well
saw what the Spaniards were able to do. They knew of
the treaties which were made with this province, and the
allegiance given by the chiefs of all the country to the
service of Your Sacred Majesty. At which, as it ap-
peared, they showed themselves not much pleased, for they
worked in many ways to embroil me with this people,
saying that nothing they had told me was true, nor was
the friendship they had sworn sincere, and that they
formed it to secure me, in order to commit treason when
they could with safety. The inhabitants of this province
on the other hand, many times advised me not to trust
those vassals of Montezuma, because they were traitors
who carried on all their affairs with treacheries and
tricks, and it was thus they had subjected all the country;
and that they as my sincere friends and persons w^ho had
known them for a long time, warned me against them. I
was not a little pleased to see this discord and want of
conformity between the two parties, because it appeared
to me to strengthen my design, and later I would find
means to subjugate them; that common saying " De
monte" etc., might be repeated, and I was even reminded
of a scriptural authority which says " Omne regnum in
seipsum divisum desolabiUtr." So I treated with the
one, and the other, and privately I thanked both for the
^^advice they gave me, giving to each the credit for more
friendship, than to the other.

I had been in the city twenty days or more, when those
lords, Montezuma's messengers, who had always re-
mained with me, told me that I ought to go to a city about
six leagues from this Tascaltecal, called Churultecal, ^

> Cholula, sixty leagues distant from the city of Mexico, was
the sacred city of Anahuac, the Jerusalem, or Mecca, of the nations,
where stood (and stands) the greatest pyramid in Mexico, of whose con-

Second Letter 213

as its natives were friends of Montezuma's, their sovereign.
They said that we might there learn his pleasure, whether
it was that I should go to his country, and that some of
them would go to speak with him, and tell him what I
had told them and return with his answer.

Although they knew that I had there some of his
messengers, who had come to speak with me, I told them
that I would go, and would leave on a certain day which
I made known to them. When it became known to the
Tascaltecas what they and I had agreed upon, and how
I consented to go with them to that city, the rulers came
to me, greatly afflicted, and told me that I must not go
on any account, because it had been plotted to kill me
and my men in that city. For this purpose, they said,
Montezuma had sent fifty thousand men from his country
(some part of which joins with that city), whom they
kept in garrison, two leagues from the city, and that they
had blocked up the customary high road, and had pre-
pared a new one with many pits, in which sharp stakes
and wood were placed, covered over in such a manner that
the horses would fall, and be lamed; many streets were
barricaded, and quantities of stones were collected on
the housetops, so that, when we entered the city they
might attack us with safety, and accomplish their pur-
pose. They told me, that, if I wanted to confirm all they

struction there is no authentic record. The form of government
there was theocratic, and the priests chose a captain-general to com-
mand the army, while the civil affairs were administered by a council
composed of six nobles.

The Cholula pyramid, now so covered with earth, and overgrown
with shrubs and trees, that its artificial character and architectural
lines are no longer discernible, measures at the length of its base 1423
feet, or twice the length of Cheops ; the square of the base covers about
forty-four acres, and the flat area on the summit a little more than one
acre. The chief deity worshipped at Cholula was the mysterious
"fair god" Quetzalcoatl (see Appendix III., at the close of this
Letter). Bemal Diaz declared that Cholula reminded him of Valladolid
because of its many lofty towers.

214 Letters of Cortes

said, I might judge from the fact that the chiefs of that
city had never come to see me, nor to speak with me,
though they were so near to this city, while those of
Guazincango who Hved farther off had come, and if I
sent for them I would see they would not come. I
thanked them for their advice, and begged them to
furnish me persons who would go on my part and call
the chiefs. They did so, and I sent to invite them to come
and see me, because I wished to tell them certain things
on the part of Your Highness, and to explain to them the
cause of my coming to this country.

These messengers went, and delivered my message to
the chiefs of Churultecal, and two or three persons of
inferior rank returned with them, and told me that they
had come on the part of those chiefs who were ill and
could not come, but that I might tell them what I de-
sired. The people of this city told me that all this was a
mockery, and that those messengers were of mean con-
dition, and in no wise should I leave without the chiefs
of that city first coming hither. I told those messengers
that an embassy from such a high Prince as Your Sacred
Majesty could not be given to such persons as they were,
and that even their chiefs were unworthy to hear it.
They should, nevertheless, appear within three days
before me to give their obedience to Your Highness, and
to offer themselves as your vassals, with the understanding
that, if they did not come within the time fixed, I should
fall upon them, and destroy them, and proceed against
them as against rebels who refused to submit to Your
Majesty's authority. I sent them an order, signed with
my name and that of a notary public, with a full ex-
planation of the Royal Person of Your Sacred Majesty,
and of my arrival, telling them how all these parts, and
many other greater countries, and dominions, belonged
to Your Highness, and how those who desired to be your
vassals would be honoured and favoured, and how on the

Second Letter 215

contrary those who rebelled would be punished, according
to justice. ^

The next day, almost all of the chiefs of that city
came, and told me that, if they had not come before,
it was because the people of this province Embassy
were their enemies, and that they did not from Cho-
dare to enter their country because they did lu^a Visits
not consider themselves safe ; and that they °^ ^^

were sure that they had told me some things respecting
them, but I must not give any credence to them, because
they spoke as enemies, and not according to facts. They
said also that I should go to their city, where I would
discover the falsehoods their enemies had been telling,
and the truth of what they themselves assured me; and
that from thenceforth they gave and acknowledged
themselves as vassals of Your Sacred Majesty, and that
they would always remain such, serving and contributing
in everything as they were commanded on the part of

1 Cortes's unfaltering conviction was that he was an instrument
of divine justice, and he acted the part consistently, determined
that others should so regard him. He started from the dogmatic
assumption that the new world belonged to Spain by right of Pope
Alexander's bull of donation; that its inhabitants were therefore just
as much the lawful subjects of the Crown as were the natives of Castile,
or Granada, and that for them to refuse obedience was rebellion. The
native chiefs in resisting his pretentions, and defending their countries,
became, according to his reasoning, instigators of revolt and must be
dealt with as such. Most of all, the people were practisers of idolatry,
in peril of eternal damnation, whom it was a chief part of his mission
to rescue, and bring into the knowledge of the Faith. He held him-
self to be merciful, in that he invariably invited their obedience,
by explaining what a privilege it was to be ruled by such a mighty
sovereign as the Emperor, and sought to effect their conversion by
expounding the doctrines of the Catholic religion. Once this choice
was put plainly before them, and they had refused to accept the dual
blessings of vassalage and conversion, they became in his eyes con-
tumacious rebels, and conscious heretics. He had the Spanish XVI. cen-
tury standards as to how all such were to be treated. He followed,
in this case, the usual solemn formality of causing a letter to be
drawn up by a notary ; that the Cholulan priests could not understand
a word of it did not detract from the validity of the proceeding.

2i6 Letters of Cortes

Your Highness. It was thus set down by a notary
pubHc, through the interpreters whom I had.

I still determined to go with them, not only to avoid
sho\^^ng any weakness, but also because from there I
thought to treat affairs with Montezuma, as they bounded
upon his country, as I have already said, and there
was unimpeded intercourse between the two countries.

When the Tascaltccas saw my determination, they
were much grieved, and told me repeatedly that I erred,
but inasmuch as they had given themselves as vassals
to Your Sacred Majesty, and my friends, they wished
to go with me, and help me in any emergency. ^ Al-
though I forbade them, and prayed them not to go
inasmuch as there was no necessity for it, still as many
as about a hundred thousand men, well furnished for
warfare, accompanied me to within about two leagues
from the cit}^, when after many importunities, they re-
turned, though some five or six thousand of them still
remained with me.

I slept in a dr}'' river bed about two leagues distant,
to disperse the people, fearing they might cause some
scandal in the city, and also because it was already late,
and I did not wish to enter the city at a late hour. The
next morning, the citizens came out to receive me on the
road, with many trumpets, 2 and drums, and also many
priests from their mosques, clothed in their vestments,
and chanting in the fashion they are accustomed to do
in the said mosques.^ With this solemnity they brought
us into the city, where they housed us in a very good
dwelling place, where all the people of my company

» The real purpose of the Tlascalans was to embroil Cortes
with the Cholulans, and, with the help of the invincible Spaniards.
to crush their ancient enemy.

' These tnimpets were made of wood and canes, and were well
played, giving forth very sonorous notes.

* The Spaniards commonly used the word "mosque" to desig-
nate any non-Christian place of worship.

Second Letter 217

dwelt to their satisfaction; and they brought us some
food, though not very generously. Along the road we
encountered many signs, such as the natives of this
province had foretold us, for we found the high road
blocked up, and another opened, and some pits, although
not many, and some of the city streets were closed, and
many stones were piled on the house tops. They thus
obliged us to be cautious, and on our guard.

I found there certain messengers from Montezuma,
who came to speak with those others who were with me,
but to me they said nothing, because, in order to inform
their master, they had come to learn what those who
w^ere with me had done and agreed with me. These
latter messengers departed, therefore, as soon as they
had spoken with the first, and even the chief of those who
had formerly been with me also left.

During the three days which I remained there I was
ill provided for, and every day was worse, and the lords
and chiefs of the city came rarely to see and xhe Mas-
speak to me. I was somewhat perplexed by sacre at
this, but the interpreter whom I have, an Cholula
Indian woman ^ of this country whom I obtained in
Putunchan, the great river I have already mentioned
in the first letter to Your Majesty, was told by another
woman native of this city, that many of Montezuma's
people had gathered close by, and that those of the
city had sent away their wives, and children, and all
their goods, intending to fall upon us and kill us all;
and that, if she wished to escape, she should go with
her, as she would hide her. The female interpreter told
it to that Geronimo de Aguilar, the interpreter whom I
obtained in Yucatan, and of whom I have written to Your
Highness, who reported it to me. I captured one of the
natives of the said city, who was walking about there,
and took him secretly apart so that no one saw it, and

» See Appendix I., close of Letter.

2i8 Letters of Cortes

questioned him; and he confirmed all that the Indian
woman and the natives of Tascaltecal had told me. As
well on account of this infonnation as from the signs I
had obsen-ed, I determined to anticipate them, rather
than be suiprised, so I had some of the lords of the city
called, saying that I wished to speak with them, and I
shut them in a chamber by themselves. In the meantime
I had our people prepared, so that, at the firing of a
musket, they should fall on a crowd of Indians who were
near to our quarters, and many others who were inside
them. It was done in this wise, that, after I had taken
these lords, and left them bound in the chamber, I
mounted a horse, and ordered the musket to be fired, and
we did such execution that, in two hours, more than
three thousand persons had perished.

In order that Your Majesty may see how well prepared
they were, before I went out of our quarters, they had
occupied all the streets, and stationed all their men, but,
as we took them by surprise, they were easily overcome,
especially as the chiefs were wanting, for I had already
taken them prisoners. I ordered fire to be set to some
towers and strong houses, where they defended them-
selves, and assaulted us; and thus I scoured the city
fighting during five hours, leaving our dwelling place
which was very strong, well guarded, until I had forced
all the people out of the city at various points, in which
those five thousand natives of Tascaltecal and the four
hundred of Cempoal gave me good assistance. ^

" This massacre is one of the bloodiest in Mexican history, and
concerning it the greatest controversy has raged. Las Casas leads
in judging Cortes most severely, and says that it was a part of
his policy, as indeed it was of the Spaniards everywhere, to strike
terror into the natives by a wholesale slaughter. Bernal Diaz defends
Cortes and says his course was justified later, when, in the investigation
made by the friars who came for that purpose to Cholula, they learned
from the chiefs and other Cholulans that there had really been a con-
certed plot to destroy the Spaniards in their city. A contrary theory
is, that the Tlascalans invented the fiction of a plot expressly to

Second Letter 219

On my return to our quarters, I spoke with those
captive lords, and asked them why they wished to kill
me treacherously. They answered that it was not their
fault, as those of Culua, who were vassals of Alontezuma,
had put them up to it, and that Montezuma had stationed
in such and such a place, (which as we learned afterwards
was a league and a half distant) , a gamson of fifty thousand
men to accomplish it. But they now had learned how
they had been deceived, and if I would set one or two
of them at liberty, they would gather the people of the
city, and return to it with all the women, and children,
and chattels; and they prayed me to pardon them the
error they had committed, assuring me that, from hence-
forth, no one should deceive them, and that they would
be faithful and loyal vassals of Your Highness and my
friends. After having spoken at length to them about
their error, I liberated two of them, and the next day
the whole city was filled with men, women, and children,
and as safe as if nothing of what had passed had ever
happened. Immediately afterwards I Hberated all the
other chiefs and lords whom I had made prisoners, they
promising that they would serve Your Majesty very
loyally.

During the fifteen or twenty days I remained there,
the city and country were completely pacified and re-
provoke a massacre of their Cholulan enemies; if this be true, Dona
Marina was the only instrument for accompHshing their purpose. She
told Cortes that a Cholulan woman of position, whose friendship she
had cultivated, had warned her of the Spaniards' doom, and urged her
to take shelter in her own house, and thus save herself. Granted
that Cortes was, with reason, fearful of treachery, his only safety lay
in forestalling the plotters, but this it seems might have been done by
securing the chiefs, and Montezuma's envoys, who were the suspected
instigators, and even making an example of them. Nothing can ex-
cuse the wholesale massacre of a defenceless population taken in a
trap; such excessive measures overstepped by far the needs of tha
situation. If the commander's intention was as Las Casas describes,
he succeeded, for the news of the tragedy quickly spread, and threw
Montezuma into a panic of helpless fear.

220 Letters of Cortes

peopled, so that it seemed nobody was lacking; and their
market place and the affairs of the city were as they
ordinarily were; and I made those of this city of Churul-
tecal friends with those of Tascaltecal, for they used to
be so formerly, ^ and it was but a short time since that
Montezuma had won them ov^er to his allegiance, and
made them enemies of the others.

This city of Chunjltecal is situated in a plain, and
has up to twenty thousand houses in the body of
Description the city, and as many more in the outskirts.
of Choiuia It is an independent state, and has its recog-
nised boundaries, and they do not obey any chiefs,
but govern themselves like the Tascaltecas. The people
are better clothed in some ways than the Tascaltecas,
because their honoured citizens all wear albornoces ^
above their other clothing, though they differ from
those of Africa in ha\ing pockets, but in the making,
and stuff and borders, they are very similar. They
have all been, and are since the recent occurrence,
very faithful vassals to Your ]\Iajesty, and very obedient
in all that I required and commanded of them in Your
Ro3^al name; and I believe that henceforth they wdll
remain so. This city has very fertile fields, for they
have much land, and the greater part is irrigated; and
the city seen from the outside is more beautiful than the
cities of Spain, because it is very level, and contains many
towers, for I certify to Your Highness that I counted
from a mosque four hundred and odd towers in the city,

' Tlascala and Cholula had fought as allies against the triple
alliance of Mexico, Texcoco, and Tlacopan, but Montezuma had profited
by a subsequent dissension between them to aggravate the quarrel
which thus led to a war, the Mexicans aiding the Cholulans. This
cost the latter their independence, as Montezuma established his sway
over them. They were reputed to be false, and their very name
had come to be synonymous with treachery. (Orozco y Berra, Tom.
iv., p. 239.)

2 The Moorish burnous.

Second Letter 221

and all belonged to mosques. It is the best adapted for
Spaniards to live in of any I have seen since leaving the
port, as it has some uncultivated lands and water for the
purpose of raising cattle, such as have no others we have
seen so far. For, such is the multitude of people who
live in these parts, that there is not a palm of land which
is not cultivated, and even then there are many places in
which they suffer for want of bread, and there are many
poor who beg amongst the rich in the streets, and at the
market places, just as the poor do in Spain, and other
civilised countries.

I spoke, to those messengers of Montezuma who re-
mained with me, about the treachery which had been
plotted against me in the city, and how the Concerning
lords of it affirmed that it had been done the Plot of
by the counsel of Montezuma. I said that ^^^ Cho-

1 11 Ifl T1 C

it did not seem to me that it was a deed for
such a great lord as he was, who had sent me such
honourable persons as his messengers, saying he w^as
my friend, while on the other hand he devised plans for
injuring me by means of strangers, so that he might cast
off the responsibility if things did not turn out as he
thought. But since it was thus, and he did not keep
his word, nor did he speak the truth to me, I now intended
to alter my plans ; for until now I had come with the in-
tention of seeing and speaking with him, and of having
him for a friend, and holding many conversations, and
in the hope of peace. Now, however, I would go to his
country with war, doing him all the harm I could as
an enemy, though this I regretted very much, as I had
always wanted him for a friend that I might counsel
with him respecting what I was to do in this country.
They answered me, that as they had been with me many
days, they knew nothing concerning that plot, except
what they had heard in the city after the occurrence, and
they could not believe that it was done by the order and

222 Letters of Cortes

counsel of Montezuma; and they besought me, before T
determined to abandon his friendship and to make war
as I said, that I should inform myself of the truth, and
permit one of them, who would promptly return, to go
and speak with Montezuma, as from this city to the place
where he resides is twenty leagues. I told them I agreed
to this, and let one of them go, who after six days re-
turned, together with the first who had gone, and they
brought me ten plates of gold, and fifteen hundred pieces
of stuff, and many provisions of chickens and panicap, ^
which is a beverage they drink; and they told me that
Montezuma was much grieved over the disturbance that
had happened, and which had been arranged in Churul-
tecal. They said that I must believe that it had not been
by his counsel and order, for he assured me it was not so,
and that, though the people who were there in garrison
were of a truth his, they had moved without his com-
mands, induced by the natives of Churultecal, who bor-
dered on two of his provinces, one of which was called
Acancigo, and the other Izzucan. 2 They said that there
existed a certain alliance of neighbourhood between
them, for helping each other, and it was thus they had
come there, and not by his orders; but in the future
I should learn from his deeds, that what he had told me
was true, though he still besought me not to seek to come
to his country, because it was sterile, and we would
suffer privations, and that from wherever I might be, I
could send to ask him for whatever I wanted, and he
would send it very promptly. I answered that my visit
to his country could not be renounced, because I would
have to send a full account of him and of it to Your
Majesty, and that I was persuaded of the truth of what

» There is no such word or drink, and this name may be here
due to an error in writing or copying; it has been taken by some
commentators to mean pan y cacao (bread and cocoa). Gayangos
suggests that it may be the sugared drink called Atole.

2 Two towns in the present state of Puebla.

Second Letter 223

he had sent to tell me ; that inasmuch as I could not forego
seeing him, I hoped he would approve of it, and not plan
any opposition, because it would be greatly to his injury,
and would grieve me very much.

From the time he saw it was my determination to visit
him and his country, he sent me word to say that I might
come, and very welcome ; that he would await me in that
great city where he was, and he sent me many of his
people to accompany me, as I was already near his
country. These persons sought to induce me to go by
a certain road, where they must have prepared some
attack upon me, as it afterwards appeared, and as was seen
by many Spaniards whom I afterwards sent to recon-
noitre the country. There were so many bridges, and
difficult passes on that road, that, if I had gone by it, they
might very easily have accomplished their intentions, but
as God has always taken care to guide, even from your
childhood, the royal affairs of Your Sacred Majesty, and
as I and those of my company went in your royal service,
He showed us another road, which, although somewhat
steep, was not as dangerous as that by which they wished
to take us.

About eight leagues from this city of Churultecal,
there are two very high and marvellous mountains, ^
for at the end of August they were so covered Ascent of
with snow that we could distinguish nothing Popoca-
else on their tops but what seemed snow, and *^P®*

' Popocatapetl. Signifying in the Mexican language "smoking
mountain." Humboldt gives its height as 5400 metres. Together
with Ixtaccihuatl (the white woman) this volcano was venerated as
a god, the Indians considering them as man and wife; their feast
days were celebrated both in the city and in grottoes in the mountains.
The crater of Popocatapetl was thought to be an abode of the tormented
spirits of wicked kings. The greatest eruption of which there is any
record took place in 1353; the mountain was in a period of activity
in 1 5 19 which lasted till 1528. Another eruption occurred in 1533,
but the one which caused the most serious apprehension was on Feb.
24, 1664, when a huge piece of the crater fell in and showers of ashes

224 Letters of Cortes

from the highest one, a great volume of smoke, as thick
as a house, continually comes forth, not only by day,
but also by night, rising to the clouds as straight as
a pillar, and it appears to come out with such force,
that although on the top of the mountain a strong
wind prevails, it does not turn it. As I have always
wished to give a very detailed account of this country to
Your Highness, I wanted to know about this mystery,
which seemed somewhat marvellous, so I sent ten of my
companions, who seemed adapted for such an enterprise,
accompanied by some natives of the country to guide
them, charging them to climb the said mountains, and
learn the secret of that smoke, whence and how it came.
They went, and strove, and did all that was possible
to scale it, but never were able to do so on account of
the quantity of snow which lay on the mountain, and
the clouds of ashes which are blown about on it, and also
because they could not endure the great cold which pre-
vails there. They nearly reached the top, however, and
so high was it, that, when they were up there, the smoke
began to come out, and they say it came with such an
impetus and noise as if the entire mountain was about to
sink; so they descended, and brought with them a con-
siderable quantity of snow and icicles, which seemed
a strange thing to see in these parts, for according to
the opinion of the pilots, they belong to the tropics.
They say especially that this country is situated in
the twentieth degree, which is parallel to the island of
Hispaniola, where the heat is continually very great.

rained in the streets of Puebla, where the windows were broken, and
roofs of houses collapsed. I visited the crater in 1884, when it resem-
bled the basin of a dried-up lake, from which came puffs of whitish
smoke-like steam, rising from small fissures here and there, while over
all there was a strong smell of sulphur. Diego de Ordaz, who led the
Spaniards in making the first known ascent of the mountain, had con-
ceded to him on his return to Spain, the privilege of quartering a smok-
ing volcano in his arms.

Second Letter 225

While going to see this mountain, they came upon a
road, and asked the natives who went with them whither
it lead ; and these answered to Culua, ^ and that it was
a good road, and that the other by which the Culuans
wished to take us was not good. The Spaniards followed
it until they reached the top of the Sierras, between which
the road passes, and from there they beheld the plains of
Culua, and the city of Temixtitan,^ and the lakes which
are in the said province, of which I will hereafter make
relation to Your Highness. They came back very glad
at having discovered so good a road, and God knows how
happy I was about it.

After these Spaniards, who had gone to visit the moun-
tains, returned, and I had informed myself accurately,
not only from them, but also from the natives, respecting
the road w^hich they had discovered, I spoke to those
messengers of Montezuma who were to guide me to his
country, and told them, as it was shorter that I wished to
go by that road, instead of the one they had proposed.
They answered that I said truly that it was shorter, and
more level, and the reason they had not suggested it,
was because by it we should have to pass one or tw^o
days' journey through the country of Guasucingo, whose
people were their enemies, and therefore we would not
find all the necessaries, as when going through the land
of Montezuma; but, if I wished to go that way, they
would arrange that provisions should be brought up to
the road from the other side.

So we started, with some fears that those people
might persist in playing some trick upon us, but as
we had already announced that we would Departure
take that road, it did not seem well to from

me to leave it, and to change, lest they Choluia
might suspect a want of courage had caused it. The

» Colhua, another name for Mexico, also spelled Culua.
2 See Appendix II. , close of Letter.

VOL. I — 15.

2 26 Letters of Cortes

day I left the city of Chuniltecal, I marched four leagues
to some hamlets of the city of Guasucingo, ^ where I
was well received by the natives, who gave me some
female sla\-es, and wearing apparel, and certain small
pieces of gold. This last in all was but little, because
these people did not have much, as they belong to the
league and alliance of the Tascaltecas, and they are shut
in by Montezuma, and surrounded by his country in such
a manner that they can have no commerce with any
other province except their own, and therefore, they live
very poorly.

The following day I mounted the pass between the two
mountains of which I have spoken, and, descending it,
we beheld one of the provinces, of the country of the
said Montezuma, called Chalco,^ where, about two
leagues before we reached the town, I found a very good
dwelling place, which had been recently built, and was
so large that all my company and myself were very
commodiously lodged in it; this although I had with me
more than four thousand Indians, of these provinces of
Tascaltecal, Guasucingo, Chuniltecal, and Cempoal, for
whom there were ample provisions of food. Here great "
fires of plenty of wood were burned in all the rooms, for
the cold was very bitter, as we were surrounded by two
mountains both covered with snow.

Certain persons came to speak to me here who seemed
to be chiefs, amongst whom was one who, I was
told, was brother to Montezuma. He brought me about
three thousand dollars of gold, and told me in Monte-

> Spelled in various ways. Guajocingo, or Huejocingo, in the state
of Puebla.

2 The province of Chalco had been conquered by the Mexicans
only after much bloodshed, and was held in subjection by force; hence
its people were not loyal subjects to be counted upon in time of need.
They were the first to profit by the Spaniards' arrival in the valley to
throw off their allegiance. Cortes promised them relief, and assured
them that he had come to redress their wrongs and establish justice.

Second Letter 227

zuma's name that the latter sent that to me, and prayed
me to go back, and not insist on coming to his city, as
the country was scarce of food, and the roads leading
there were bad; and, as it was all on the water, I could
enter it only in canoes. He also enumerated many other
inconveniences to prevent me going. They said I had
only to say what I wanted, for Montezuma their sovereign
would order it to be given to me, and would likewise
agree to give me annually certum quid, which would
be taken to the coast, or wherever I wished. I received
them very well and gave them some Spanish articles,
such as they esteem very much, especially to him who
was said to be a brother of Montezuma's. I replied to
his embassy, that, if it was in my hands to return, I would
do so in order to please Montezuma, but that I had come
to this country by order of Your Majesty, and that the
principal thing, of which you had ordered me to give an
account, was Montezuma, and his great city, of whom,
and of which. Your Majesty had possessed information
since a long time. I said also that they should tell him
from me, that I prayed him to approve my going to see
him, because no injury would result from it to his person
and country, but rather that he should, receive good;
and if after I had seen him he did not wish to have me
in his company, then I would return; and that we could
better decide between ourselves, how he should serve
Your Highness, than through third persons, even were
they those in whom we had full confidence. With this
answer they departed.

Judging from appearances which we observed, and the
preparation which had been made in this dwelling place
of which I have spoken, the Indians expected to attack
us that night, and perceiving this, I took such precaution
that they, noting it, changed their plan, and secretly
sent away that night a number of people who had gathered
in the woods, as was seen by our watchmen and scouts.

228 Letters of Cortes

At daybreak I set out for a town, called Amaqueruca,^
which is two leagues from here, in the province of
Chalco, which in its principal town, and the
Descends villages within two leagues of it, has some
into the Val- twenty thousand inhabitants. We were lodged
ley of in some very good houses, belonging to the chief

of the said town, and many persons who seemed
to be of high rank came to speak to me, telling me that
Montezuma, their sovereign lord, had sent them to await
me here, and to see that I was provided with every-
thing necessary. The lord of this place gave me some
forty female slaves, and three thousand castellanos.
During the two days I was there, they provided us amply
with all necessary food.

The next day, accompanied by those chiefs who had
come on the part of Montezuma to wait for me, I left,
and slept four leagues farther on, in a small town, almost
half of it on the water of a great lake, where they lodged
us very well ; and on the land side there is a chain of very
rugged and stony mountains. Here likewise they would
have been very willing to try their forces with us, except,
as it appeared, the}^ wanted to do so with safety, and by
surprising us in the night. But, as I was so well informed,
I anticipated their intention, and kept such a guard that
night, that of their spies who came, some in canoes by
water, and others by descending from the mountains,
to soe if there was any possibility of carrying out their
wishes, some fifteen or twenty were taken by our men,
and killed. Thus, few returned to give the information
they had come to secure; and finding us always so well
prepared they decided to change their tactics, and treat
us well.

The next morning, just as I was ready to leave the
town, there arrived some ten or twelve chiefs, as I learned

» Amecamecan, now called Amecameca; it lies at the foot of
Popocatapetl, some two leagues from Tlalmanalco.

Second Letter 229

afterwards, and among them a great lord, a youth of
about five and twenty years, to whom all showed great
attention, so much so, that, after he had descended from
a Htter in which he had come, all the others began clearing
the road of the stones and straw before him. Approach-
ing, he told me he came on the part of Montezuma, his
sovereign lord, and that the latter besought me to pardon
him if he did not come in person to see me, and receive
me, as he was indisposed, but that his city was already
near, and, inasmuch as I was still determined to go to
him, we would meet there, when I should learn from
him his disposition towards Your Highness's service. It
was added that he still besought me, if it were pos-
sible, not to go thither, as I would have much trouble
and privation to endure, and that he was much ashamed
not to be able to provide there as he desired. With
this, they fell on their knees, protesting so much, that
it only remained to say that they would defend the road
by force if I still insisted in going on. I satisfied, and
calmed them with the best words possible, saying that
my going thither would do them no harm, but bring them
many advantages ; and so, after giving them some presents,
they took their leave.

( I departed immediately after them, accompanied by
maTny people who seemed to be of much importance, as
it afterwards appeared, and I continued along the road
by the shore of that great lake. A league from my last
stopping place, I saw in this lake, two musket-shots
distant from the shore, a small city which might have had
one or two thousand inhabitants, and which was all
afloat on the water ; having many towers as it seemed but
no entrance. About a league from there, we reached a
great causeway, as broad as a horseman's lance, extending
within the lake about two-thirds of a league. This led
to the city, ^ which though small, was the most beautiful

» The town of Cuitlahuac, now called Tlahua, on the lake of

230 Letters of Cortes

we had yet seen, not only on account of the well decorated
houses and towers, hut also because of the excellent
construction of its foundations in the water.

In this city, which has about two thousand inhabitants,
we were very well received, and they gave us excellent
food. The lord and chiefs of it came to speak with me,
and prayed me to remain, and sleep there; however,
Montezuma's messengers who were with me told me not
to stop, but to go on to another city, called Iztapalapan, ^
about three leagues distant, belonging to a brother of
Montezuma ; so I did this. The exit from the said city
where we dined, whose name at present does not occur
to my memory, is by another causeway, a long league in
length, w^hich extends to the mainland.

Having arrived at this city of Iztapalapan, the chief
of it came out to receive me, as well as one from
Descrip- another great city, called Calnaalcan, 2 which
tion of is near, being perhaps three leagues distant,
Iztapalapan q^^(^ these Were accompanied by many other
chiefs who were waiting for me; and they gave me
three or four thousand castellanos, some female slaves,
and wearing apparel, receiving me very well. This city of

Texcoco. The Spaniards called it Venezuela (little Venice). Clavigero
insists that, after leaving Cuitlahuac for Iztapalapan, the two discon-
tented brothers of the King of Texcoco, Ixtlilochitl and Coanacochtzin,
met Cortes, and offered their alliance, explaining their grievances against
their brother Cacamatzin, the reigning King, and Montezurna their
uncle ; and that Cortes went on their invitation to Texcoco. As neither
Cortes nor Bernal Diaz mentions what would have been an important
and interesting divergence from their route, and both account for
almost every hour of the time, by recording their daily movements,
the visit to Texcoco seems inore than doubtful. The interview with
the two princes might easily have taken place on the road.

» Iztapalapan, seven miles from Mexico, preserves its ancient
name, though the lake has long since receded, leaving it high and dry.
The city had between 12,000 and 15,000 houses, and was ruled by
Cuitlahuatzin, a brother of Montezuma. The chief glory of Iztapalapan
was its botanical and zoological garden, with reservoirs full of all kinds
of fish, such as no town in Europe possessed at that time.

2 Coyohuacan.

Second Letter 231

Iztapalapan has some twelve or fifteen thousand house-
holds, and stands on the shore of a great salt lake, half
of it in the water, and the other half on land. Its chief
has some new houses, which, though still unfinished,
are as good as the best in Spain; I say as large and well
constructed, not only in the stone work, but also in the
wood work, and all arrangements for every kind of house-
hold service, all except the relief work, and other rich de-
tails, which are used in Spanish houses, but are not found
here. There are both upper and lower rooms, and very
refreshing gardens, with many trees and sweet scented
flowers, bathing places of fresh water, well constructed,
with steps leading down to the bottom. He has also a
large garden round his house, in which there is a terrace
with many beautiful corridors and rooms, and, within
the garden, is a great pool of fresh water, very well built
with sides of handsome masonry, around which runs
an open walk w^th well laid tile pavements, so broad
that four persons can walk abreast on it, and four hundred
paces square, making, in all, sixteen hundred paces.
On the other side of this promenade, towards the wall
of the garden, it is all surrounded by a lattice work
of canes, behind which are arbours, planted with
fragrant shrubs. The pool contains many fish, and
water fowl, such as ducks, cranes, and other kinds of
water birds, in such numbers that the water is covered
with them.

The next day after I had arrived in this city, I left, and
having gone half a league, I reached another causeway,
leading out into the lake a distance of two leagues to the
great city of Temixtitan, which stands in the midst of
the said lake. This causeway is two lances broad, and
so well built that eight horsemen can ride abreast; and,
within these two leagues, there are three cities, on one
and the other side of the said highway, one called Mesical-
singo, founded for the greater part within the said lake,

\

232 Letters of Cortes

and the other two, called Niciaca, and Huchilohuchico,'
on the other shore of it, with many of their houses on
the water.

The first of these cities may have three thousand
families, the second more than six thousand, and the
third four or five thousand. In all of them, there are very
good edifices, of houses and towers, especially the resi-
dences of the lords and chief persons, and the mosques
or oratories, where they keep their idols. These cities
have a great trade in salt, which they make from the
water of the lake, and from the crust of the land which is
bathed by the lake, and which they boil in a certain
manner, making loaves of salt, which they sell to the
inhabitants in the neighbourhood.

I followed the said causeway for about half a league
before I came to the city proper of Temixtitan. I
Cortes found at the junction of another causeway.
Enters the which joins this one from the mainland,
City of another strong fortification, with two towers,

TUT ' cj '

^^^° surrounded by walls, twelve feet high with
castellated tops. This commands the two roads, and
has only two gates, by one of which they enter, and from
the other they come out. About one thousand of the
principal citizens came out to meet me, and speak to me,
all richly dressed alike according to their fashion; and
when they had come, each one in approaching me, and
before speaking, would use a ceremony which is very
common amongst them, putting his hand on the ground,
and afterw^ards kissing it, so that I was kept waiting
almost an hour, until each had performed his ceremony.
There is a wooden bridge, ten paces broad, in the very
outskirts of the city, across an opening in the causeway,
where the water may flow in and out as it rises and falls.
This bridge is also for defence, for they remove and replace
the long broad wooden beams, of which the bridge is

> Huithilohuchico — Huitzilopocho — is the present Cherubusco.

Second Letter 233

made, whenever they wish; and there are many of these
bridges in the city, as Your Highness will see in the
account which I shall make of its affairs.

Having passed this bridge, we were received by that
lord, Montezuma, with about two hundred chiefs, all
barefooted, and dressed in a kind of livery, very rich,
according to their custom, and some more so than others.
They approached in two processions near the walls of
the street, which is very broad, and straight, and beautiful,
and very uniform from one end to the other, being about
two thirds of a league long, and having, on both sides, very
large houses, both dwelling places, and mosques. Monte-
zuma came in the middle of the street, with two lords,
one on the right side, and the other on the left, one of
whom was the same great lord, who, as I said, came in
that litter to speak with me, and the other was the brother
of Montezuma, lord of that city Iztapalapan, whence I
had come that day. All were dressed in the same manner,
except that Montezuma was shod, and the other lords
were barefooted. Each supported him below his arms,
and as we approached each other, I descended from my
horse, and was about to embrace him, but the two lords
in attendance prevented me, with their hands, that I
might not touch him, and they, and he also, made the
ceremony of kissing the ground. This done, he ordered
his brother who came with him, to remain with me, and
take me by the arm, and the other attendant walked a
little ahead of us. After he had spoken to me, all the
other lords, who formed the two processions, also saluted
me, one after the other, and then returned to the pro-
cession. When I approached to speak to Montezuma,
I took off a collar of pearls and glass diamonds, that I
wore, and put it on his neck, and, after we had gone
through some of the streets, one of his servants came
with two collars, wrapped in a cloth, which were made
of coloured shells. These they esteem very much;

234 Letters of Cortes

and from each of the collars hung eight golden shrimps
executed with great perfection and a span long. When
he received them, he turned towards me, and put them
on my neck, and again went on through the streets, as
I have already indicated, until we came to a large and
handsome house, which he had prepared for our reception.
There he took me by the hand, and led me into a spacious
room, in front of the court where we had entered, where
he made me sit on a very rich platform, which had been
ordered to be made for him, and told me to wait there;
and then he went away.

After a little while, when all the people of my company
were distributed to their quarters, he returned w4th many
valuables of gold and silver w^ork, and five or six thousand
pieces of rich cotton stuffs, woven, and embroidered in
divers ways. After he had given them to me, he sat down
on another platform, which they immediately prepared
near the one where I was seated, and being seated he
spoke in the following manner:

" We have known for a long time, from the chroni-
cles of our forefathers, that neither I, nor those who
Monte- inhabit this country, are descendants from
zuma's First the aborigines of it, ^ but from strangers who
Discourse came to it from very distant parts; and we
to Cortes ^j^^ ^^^d, that our race was brought to
these parts by a lord, whose vassals they all were, and
who returned to his native country. After a long time
he came back, but it was so long, that those who remained
here were married with the native women of the country,
and had many descendants, and had built towns where
they were living ; when, therefore, he wished to take them
away with him, they would not go, nor still less receive
him as their ruler, so he departed. 2 And we have al-
ways held that those who descended from him would

'[See Appendix III. at close of Letter
' See Appendix IV. at close of Letter.

Second Letter 235

come to subjugate this country and us, as his "vassals;
and according to the direction from which you say you
come, which is where the sun rises, and from what you
tell us of your great lord, or king, who has sent you here,
we believe, and hold for certain, that he is our rightful
sovereign, especially as you tell us that since many da3^s
he has had news of us. Hence you may be sure, that
we shall obey you, and hold you as the representative of
this great lord of whom you speak, and that in this there
will be no lack or deception ; and throughout the whole
country you may command at your will (I speak of what
I possess in my dominions), because you will be obeyed,
and recognised, and all we possess is at your disposal.

" Since you are in your rightful place, and in your own
homes, rejoice and rest, free from all the trouble of the
journey, and wars which you have had, for I am well aware
of all that has happened to you, between Puntunchan
and here, and I know very well, that the people of Cem-
poal, and Tascaltecal, have told you many evil things re-
specting me. Do not believe more than you see with
your own eyes, especially from those who are my enemies,
and were my vassals, yet rebelled against me on your
coming (as they say), in order to help you. I know they
have told you also that I have houses, with walls of gold,
and that the furniture of my halls, and other things of my
service, were also of gold, and that I am, or make myself,
a god, and many other things. The houses you have
seen are of lime and stone and earth." And then he
held up his robes, and showing me his body he said to me,
" Look at me, and see that I am flesh and bones, the same
as you, and everybody, and that I am mortal, and tangi-
ble. " And touching his arms and body with his hands,
" Look how they have lied to you! It is true indeed that
I have some things of gold, which have been left to me
by my forefathers. All that I possess, you may have
whenever you wish.

236 Letters of Cortes

"I sliall now go to other houses where I Hve; but you
will be provided here with everything necessary for you
and your people, and you shall suffer no annoyance, for
you are in your own house and country."

I answered to all he said, certifying that which seemed
to be suitable, especially in confirming his belief that it
was Your Majesty whom they were expecting. After
this, he took his leave, and, when he had gone, we were
well provided with chickens, and bread, and fruits, and
other necessities, especially such as were required for the
semce of our quarters. Thus I passed six days well
provided with everything necessary, and visited by
many of the lords, y

I have already mentioned at the beginning. Most
Catholic Lord, that when I started from the city of Vera
Cruz, in search of this lord, Montezuma, I left there a
hundred and fifty men, to build that fort which I had
begun, and I likewise stated, that I had left many villages
and forts in the neighbourhood of that town, under the
royal dominion of Your Highness, and the natives as
very loyal vassals of Your Majesty.

While I was in the city of Chuiultecal, I received
letters from the captain, whom I had left in my
Treachery place at Vera Cruz, informing me that Quauh-
of Quauh- popoca, ^ lord of the city called Almeria,
popoca Y^^^ ggj^^ messengers to him, saying, that if
he had not 3^et offered to become a vassal of Your

1 Quauhpopoca commanded the garrisons at Nauhtla (named
Almeria by the Spaniards) and Tochpan, which is the present town of
Tuxpan.

If Quauhpopoca acted by his sovereign's orders, he merely did his
duty, and merited no punishment from Cortes, but if, on the other
hand, he acted on his own initiative, then Montezuma was free from
blame and should not have been degraded by the imposition of chains.
Cortes's action is indefensible; his intention doubtless was to convince
the emperor that there was no depth of humiliation to which he might
not be brought, and to prove to the people that to kill a Spaniard was
the greatest of crimes, sure to be followed by the direst punishment. '

Second Letter 237

Highness, nor had appeared to give his obedience, with
all his lands, as he was obliged to do, it was because
he had to cross an enemy's country, and that, fearing
to be molested by them, he had deferred coming; but
to send him four Spaniards to accompany him, because,
they, through whose country he had to pass, knowing
for what purpose he was coming, would not then dare
molest him, and he would immediately come. The cap-
tain, believing that what the said Qualpopoca had sent
to say was true, as many others had done the same, had
despatched him the four Spaniards, but, after he got them
in his power, he tried to kill them, in such a way as would
make it appear that he had not done it. After he had killed
two of them, however, the other two, wounded, escaped
to the forests. The captain had then attacked the city
of Almeria, with fifty Spaniards, two horsemen, two
field pieces, and about eight thousand friendly Indians.
He fought with the inhabitants of the said city, and
slaughtered many of them, driving out the rest, and burnt,
and destroyed it, because the Indians accompanying
him were their enemies, and had put much diligence into
it. Qualpopoca, the lord of the city, together with the
other chiefs, who had come thither to assist him, escaped
by taking flight.

The captain was informed by some of the prisoners,
taken amongst the defenders of the city, that Qualpopoca
had killed the said Spaniards, whom we had sent, because
Montezuma had ordered him, and his other vassals, that,
as soon as I left the town of Vera Cruz, they should attack
those vassals who had rebelled against him, and offered
themselves to the service of Your Highness; and that
he should use every means he could to kill the Spaniards
I had left there, so that they could not aid nor favour
them. This was the reason they had done what they
had.

Six days having passed, Most Invincible Prince, after

238 Letters of Cortes

I had arrived in the city of Temixtitan, and, having seen
something of it, although little in proportion to the
amount there is to be seen and noted, it appeared to me,
even from what I had seen of it and the country, that it
would be conducive to Your Royal Highness's service,
and to our security, that Montezuma should be in my
power, and not at his entire liberty, so that he might
not relax his intention and disposition to serv-e Your
Highness. I thought this, especially because we Span-
iards are somewhat touchy and importunate, and, if he
should happen to become angry, he could do us such
injury with his great power, that there would remain no
recollection of us; and also because, having him in my
power, all the other countries who were subject to him,
would come to the knowledge and ser\4ce of Your
Majesty, as afterguards happened.

I determined to seize him, and confine him in my

quarters, which are very strong; and, thinking over

all the forms and ways in which I could

ores *°s g^^^^^pi^gj^ ^j^^g^ without provoking any scan-

Montezumadal or commotion upon his arrest, I remem-
bered what my captain at Vera Cruz had
written about the occun-ence in the city of Almeria, as I
have related, and how it had become known, that all that
had happened there had taken place by Montezuma's
command. I stationed sufficient guards in the cross
streets, and went to the palace of Montezuma, as I had
at other times gone to see him; and, after conversing
with him lightly on pleasant subjects, and after he had
given me some valuables in gold, and one of his daughters,
and some daughters of other lords to some of my com-
panions, I told him that I had learned what had happened
in the city of Nautecal, or Almeria, and about the Span-
iards whom they had killed there, and that Qualpopoca
gave as his excuse, that all he had done had been by
Montezuma's order, and that, as his vassal, he could not

Second Letter 239

have done otherwise. I said that, because I did not
beHeve Qualpopoca's excuse of his fault, it seemed to
me that he ought to send for him, and the other chiefs
who had helped him in the murder of the Spaniards, so
that the truth might be known, and they be punished,
and Your Majesty might clearly perceive his good dis-
position. Otherwise the reports of those wicked men
might provoke Your Highness to anger against him,
from which, instead of the favours Your Highness would
now grant him, evil would result; for I was convinced
that the truth was contrary to what they declared. He
immediately sent for certain of his people, to whom he
gave a small stone figure, like a seal, which he wore tied
to his arm, ordering them to go to the city of Almeria,
which is about sixty or seventy leagues from that of
Muxtitan [Mexico], and bring the said Qualpopoca; to
ascertain what others had taken part in the murder of
the Spaniards, and to bring them Hkewise; and, if they
resisted, to bring them as prisoners, and, if they should
resist imprisonment, to call upon certain tribes in the
neighborhood, which he then named, to seize them by
force of arms; but on no account to return without them.
These men immediately left, and, after they had gone,
I told Montezuma that I was very grateful to him for the
diligence he had used in the imprisonment of those men,
for I must render an account to Your Royal Highness
for those murdered Spaniards. To enable me to give
this, it now only remained that he should stop in my
quarters, until the truth was established, and it was
known that he was blameless. I earnestly prayed him
not to feel pained at this, because he would not be kept
a prisoner, but would have entire liberty; that I would
place no impediment to his service and authority in his
dominions, and that he might choose any room he pleased
in the palace where I was, where he should remain at his
pleasure, well assured that he should suffer no annoyance

/

240 Letters of Cortes

or unpleasantness, but rather that, in addition to his own
attendants, my companions would also obey his com-
mands. We had much conversation and argument about
this, which would be too lengthy to write, and even too
prolix to recount to Your Highness, as well as of little
bearing on the case, hence I will not say more than that
finally he agreed to come with me, and immediately
gave orders to prepare the apartment he wished to
occupy, which was well fitted up, and put in order. This
having been done, many lords came, and having taken
off their vestments, which they carried under their arms,
barefooted they brought the litter, not much adorned,
and, w^eeping, they placed him on it, in profound silence.
Thus we went to my quarters without causing any com-
motion in the city, although some had begun, but, when
Montezuma heard of it, he ordered it to be stopped, and
thus all was as completely quiet as though nothing had
happened; and this continued all the time I kept Monte-
zuma prisoner, for he lived at his entire pleasure, and with
all his service, just as he had it in his ow^n palace, which
was great and marv^ellous, as I will hereafter say. And
I, and those of my company, did everything we could
to please him.

Some fifteen or twenty days having passed since his
imprisonment, those who had been sent for Qual-
Monte- popoca, and the others who had killed the
zumain Spaniards, returned, bringing the said Qual-
Chains popoca, and one of his sons, and with them
fifteen other persons w^hom they said had taken
part in the murders. Qualpopoca was carried in a
litter, very much in the style of a lord, as he in reality
was. They were delivered to me, and I kept them under
guard in prison, and afterwards when they confessed that
they had killed the Spaniards, I had them interrogated
as to w^hether they were vassals of Montezuma. Qual-
popoca answered, asking if there existed any other lord

Second Letter 241

of whom he might be vassal, as much as to say there was
no other. I hkewise asked them if what had been done
there was by Montezuma's order; and they answered,
" No, " although afterguards, when the sentence, that they
should be burned, was carried into execution, all with
one voice said it was true that Montezuma had ordered
them to do it, and that they had obeyed his command.
So they were burned publicly, in one of the squares,
without occasioning any commotion, and the day when
they were burned, as soon as they confessed that Monte-
zuma commanded them to kill the Spaniards, I ordered
him to be put in chains, which frightened him not a little.
After I had spoken to him, I removed the irons
the same day, and he remained very satisfied, and ever
afterwards I endeavoured to please him, and keep him
satisfied as far as possible; especially did I always say
publicly to all the natives of the country, nobles as well
as others, who came to see him, that Your Majesty had
been pleased that Montezuma should continue to exercise
authority, recognising the suzerainty of Your Highness,
and that Your Highness would be well pleased by their
obeying him, and regarding him as their lord, as they
had before I came to the country. So good was my
treatment of him, and the satisfaction he felt, that some-
times, and frequently, I offered him his liberty, praying
him to return to his palace ; but he told me each time that
he was contented there, and that he did not wish to go,
because nothing that he wished was wanting, more than
in his own palace, whereas it might happen that, if he
went back, the lords of the country, his vassals, would
importune him to do things, in spite of himself, which
would be contrary to his own wish, and to Your High-
ness's service. He added, that he was determined to
serve Your Majesty in all that was possible, and up till
now he had told them what he wanted done, and was
content where he was, for, should anyone attempt to

VOL. I. 16

242 Letters of Cortes

make suggestions to him now, he could excuse himself
by answering that he was not free, and thus evade them.
He often asked permission to go and enjoy himself, and
pass the time in certain pleasure houses, both out of the
city and in it, and I never denied him this. He often
would, \\'ith five or six Spaniards go to enjoy himself
one or two leagues out of the city, returning very gladly
to the quarters where I kept him; and, whenever he went
out, he would present many valuables, and clothing, as
well to the Spaniards who went with him, as to the natives,
who always accompanied him to at least the number of
three thousand men, most of them nobles and persons of
distinction; and, as he always gave them m.any banquets
and feasts, they who went with him were always
contented.

When I afterwards understood perfectly, that he

was wholly devoted to the service of Your Royal

Highness, I praved him, so that I might give

0ort6S i ^

Investigates ^ better account to Your Majesty of this
the Gold country, to show me the mines from which
Mines of j^g obtained gold, and he answered with perfect
Mexico good will that he would gladly do so. He im-
mediately sent certain of his servants, distributing them
two by two over four provinces, from which he said he
got the gold; and he asked me to send Spaniards with
them, to see how it was taken out. So, for each of his
own people, I sent two Spaniards, and some went to a
province, called Cuzula, eighty leagues from the great
city of Temixtitan, the natives of which are his vassals,
and there they were shown three rivers, from each of
which they brought me specimens of gold of very good
quality, although it was taken out with mean tools, as
they had only those with which the Indians extract it.
On the road, they passed through three provinces, ac-
cording to what the Spaniards said, of fine land, and many
hamlets and cities, and towns, very populous, and con-

Second Letter 243

taining buildings equal to any in Spain. They told me
especially of a house and fort, greater, and stronger, and
better built, than the castle of Burgos, and that the
people of this province, called Tamazulapa, were better
dressed than any others we have seen, and, as it seemed
to them, more intelligent. Others went to another
province called Malinaltepeque, another seventy leagues
from the said great city, and more towards the sea-coast;
and they brought me likewise specimens of gold from a
great river there.

The others went to a country, called Teniz, ^ farther
up this river, belonging to a people of a different language
from that of Culua, and the ruler of that country is called
Coatelicamat. His country lies in a very high rugged
mountain chain, and is not subject to Montezuma; the
people of that province are very war-like, fighting with
lances, twenty or thirty palms long, and, because they
are not vassals of Montezuma, the messengers who ac-
companied the Spaniards did not dare to enter that
country, without first notifying the chief and asking
his permission. They told him they had come with the
Spaniards to see the gold mines in his country, and be-
sought him, on my part, and that of Montezuma, their
lord, to permit it. Coatelicamat answered, that he was
very willing the Spaniards should come into his country,
and see the mines, and whatever else they wished, but
that the Culuans, who were subject to Montezuma, must
not come, because they were his enemies. The Spaniards
were somewhat perplexed, as to whether they should go
alone, or not; those who accompanied them told them
not to go, as they would be killed, and that it was in
order to kill them that Coatelicamat would not permit
the Culuans to accompany them. At last they deter-
mined to go alone, and the lord and his people received
them very well, and showed them seven or eight mines

' Tenich.

244 Letters of Cortes

wlicro they took out gold; and in their presence the In-
dians took some, out of which they brought me specimens.
CoateHcamat sent me certain messengers with the
Spaniards, offering himself and his country for the service
of Your Majesty; and he sent me certain valuables of
gold, and such wearing apparel as they have.

The others went to another province, called Tuchite-
pequc, ^ which is almost in a direct line towards the sea,
twelve leagues beyond the province of Malinaltepeque
where, as I have already said, gold had been found.
Two other rivers were shown them there, where gold is
also found.

As there is in those parts, according to what the Span-
iards who went there informed me, every facility for
making plantations, and procuring gold, I begged Monte-
zuma to establish a plantation for Your Majesty in that
pro\4nce of Malinaltepeque, which seems the best adapted,
and he put such diligence into it, that, within two months
after I had spoken to him, sixty fanegas^ of maize, and
ten of beans had been sown, and two thousand plants of
cacap, ^ which bears a fruit somewhat like almonds.
This fruit they sell ground, and esteem so highly, that
it is used instead of money all over the country, and with
it everything can be bought in the market places and
elsewhere. He built four good houses, in one of which,
besides the living apartments, they made a water tank,
and put five hundred ducks in it; these are much es-
teemed, because they pluck their feathers every year, and
use them for making wearing apparel. And they placed
fifteen hundred chickens in it, not to speak of other farm
stock, which the Spaniards judged to be worth twenty
thousand dollars of gold. I also prayed Montezuma to
tell me if on the sea-coast there was any river or bay

' Xuchitepec.

» Hanega, also called fanega, a dry measure corresponding approxi-
mately to the bushel.

i Cacao from which chocolate is obtained.

Second Letter 245

where ships could enter safely, and he answered me that
he did not know, but that he would have the coast drawn
for me, with its bays and rivers, and that I might send
the Spaniards to see them, and that he would give me
people to guide and take them; and thus we did.

Another day they brought me a cloth, on which the
whole coast was drawn, showing a river, larger than the
others, flowing into the sea; this seemed to be amongst
the mountain chains called Sanmin, ^ which form such a bay,
that the pilots heretofore believed it divided the province
called Mazamalco. Montezuma told me I might choose
whom I wished to send, and he would provide means for
seeing and learning everything. I immediately named ten
men, amongst them some pilots and persons acquainted
with the sea. Furnished with the provisions he gave
us, they left, and explored the whole coast, from the
port of Chalchilmeca, 2 which is called San Juan, where
I first disembarked.

They covered about sixty odd leagues, but nowhere
found a river or bay where ships could enter, al-
though there are many very large ones on ^j^^ spani-
the said coast; they took soundings of all ards Search
from the canoes, and finally reached the said ^or a

province of Cuacalco,^ where was the river ^^ °^
shown on the chart. The chief of that province, called
Tuchintecla, received them very well and gave them
canoes to explore the river. They found the shallowest
part at its mouth, two and a half fathoms in depth, and,
twelve leagues up the river, the greatest depth they found
was five or six fathoms; from their observations they
judged it has about the same depth for thirty leagues

' Coatzacoalco was the name of the river; the place described is
between the sierras of San Martin and Sant Anton, hence the name
Sanmin may be a careless or an intentional contraction of San Martin.

2 Chalchuihcuecan was the Indian name for San Juan da Ulua, the
port of Vera Cruz.

3 Coatzacoalco.

246 Letters of Cortes

up from its moutli. On its banks, are many large towns,
with an innumerable population, and all the province is
level, and rich and abundant in produce. The people
of this province are not vassals or subjects of Montezuma,
but rather his enemies. The lord of it sent word, when
the Spaniards arrived, that the Culuans must not enter
his country because they were his enemies, but, when the
Spaniards returned home with this account, he sent certain
messengers with them, who brought me valuables of
gold, tiger-skins, feather-work, stones, and stuffs. These
told me, on his part, that Tuchintecla had known of us
for a long time, because his friends of Puntunchan (which
is the river of Grijalba), had told him that I had passed
there, and had fought with them when they did not
admit me to their town, and how afterwards they became
friends of mine, and vassals of Your Majesty. The mes-
sengers said that Tuchintecla, likewise, offered himself to
Your Royal Highness, with all his country, and he prayed
me to consider him as my friend, on conditions that the
Culuans should not enter his country, though I might
see everything in it, which might be useful to Your
Royal Highness, of which he would give whatever I
might direct every year.

When I learned, from the Spaniards who visited that
province, of its adaptability for settlement, and of the
harbour they had found, I rejoiced greatly; for, ever since
I came to this country, I have sought to find a harbour
on its coast, where I might found a settlement. I had
never succeeded, however; nor is one to be found on the
whole coast, from the river of San Antonio, which is next
the Grijalba to that of Panuco which is down the coast,
where certain Spaniards settled by order of Francisco de
Garay, as I shall hereafter recount to Your Highness.

To assure myself still more about that province and
harbour, and of the good will of the natives, and of every-
thing else necessary for a settlement, I again sent certain

Second Letter 247

of my experienced people to ascertain all these matters.
They went with the messengers, whom that chief Tuchin-
tecla had sent to me, taking some things for him which
I gave them. Upon their arrival, they were well re-
ceived by him ; and they again examined and sounded the
harbour and river to see whether a town might be founded.
They afterwards brought me a long and exact description,
saying that there was everything necessary for a settle-
ment, and that the chief of the province was very content,
strongly desiring to serve Your Highness. When this
account came, I immediately dispatched a captain, with
one hundred and fifty men, to lay out, and build a town,
and construct a port; for the chief of that province had
offered to do this as well as everything else that might
be necessary or commanded by me; and he even built
six houses on the site chosen for the town, and said that
he was very pleased we should come there to settle, and
remain in his country.

In the past chapters, Most Powerful Lord, I have said
that, at the time of my coming to the great city of Temix-
titan, a great lord had come, on behalf of Montezuma,
to meet me on the road, who, as I learned afterwards,
was a near relative of the latter's, and had dominions
called Haculuacan,^ adjoining those of Montezuma. The
capital of , these is a very great city on this salt lake,
six leagues by canoe, and ten by land, from this city of
Temixtitan. The city is called Tezcuco,^ and it may have

» Acolhuacan.

2 Texcoco, capital of the kingdom of Acolhuacan, stood at the
N. E. extremity of the lake of the same name. It rivalled Mexico
in size and importance, was the centre of Nahua culture, and has been
described as the " Athens " of the Aztecs. The triple alliance of Mexico,
Texcoco, and Tlacopan (Tacuba) formed the core of the Aztec Empire,
where centred the civilisation of Anahuac. The Kings of Texcoco
and Tlacopan recognised the King of Mexico as their over-lord in war ,
and in the affairs of the central administration, but in all other respects
these sovereigns were equal, absolute, and independent, in their respec-
tive kingdoms. Texcoco was older than Mexico, and Nezahualcoyotl,

248 Letters of Cortes

about thirty thousand households. There arc in it, Sire,
very wonderful houses, and mosques, and very large, and
well built, oratories; it has also extensive market places.
Besides this city, he possesses two others, one, called Ocur-
man,' at three leagues from Tezcuco, and the other, called

the greatest of its rulers, bore the title of Aculhua Tectitl, which Mexican
historians define as equivalent to Caesar. This King once declared war
upon Mexico over a trifling question of etiquette, sacked the capital,
and exacted a heavy indemnity. The kingdom was divided into
seventy-five principalities or lordships, something after the feudal
system in Europe during the Middle Ages. The last king, before the
arrival of the Spaniards, had been Nezahualpilli, a ruler of superior
abilit}', one of the greatest princes in Mexican history, who left one
hundred and forty-five children, of whom there were four sons eligible
for the succession. The electors, under pressure of Montezuma, chose
the eldest, with the result that the youngest, Ixtlitxochitl, contested
the election, and plunged the country into civil strife from which it
emerged divided, and in this weakened and distracted state Cortes
found it upon his arrival. The ambitious Ixtlilxochitl, discontented
with the portion he had received, was a permanent pretender to his
brother's crown, and he secretly sent an embassy to Cortes at Cempoal
asking his help, and oflfering his own alliance. This afforded Cortes an
early insight into the internal dissensions of the empire, by which he
so readily and ably profited. (Ixtlilxochitl. Hist. Chichineca.) Texcoco
rapidly diminished both in population and importance after the con-
quest, and Thomas Gage, who visited it in 1626, found a village
containing one hundred Spaniards and three hundred Indians, re-
duced to poverty. Great havoc had been wrought by the wanton
destruction of the magnificent forests of giant cedar trees in the
neighbourhood. Panfilo de Narvaez accused Cortes of using seven
thousand cedar beams in the construction of his palace alone. {Voyage
de Thomas Gage, Tom. i. cap. xiii).

> Near by Acolman stand the pyramids of Teotihuacan which
Cortes nowhere mentions, though it seems impossible he should not have
seen them. Of the two large pyramids, the greater was called Tonatiuh
Ytzaqual, or House of the Sun, and the lesser, ^letztli Ytzaqual,
House of the Moon. The first is 680 feet long at the base and 180 feet
high; the second is much smaller at the base and 34 feet lower. Other
small pyramidal mounds, about thirty feet high were arranged
in regular lines or streets, leading up to the large pyramids, and were
dedicated to the stars. As this plain bore the Toltec name of Micoatl,
or Way of the Dead, it has also been thought that the whole group
formed a necropolis. Siguenza assigns their construction to the
Olmechs, though most authorities believe they were built later, by the

Second Letter 249

Otumpa, six leagues distant, each containing between
three and four thousand householders. This province
and lordship of Haculuacan has many other villages
and hamlets, and very good lands and farms. It joins
on one side with the province of Tascaltecal, of which I
have already spoken to Your Majesty.

This lord, called Cacamazin, ^ rebelled, after the
imprisonment of Montezuma, as well against the service
of Your Highness, to which he had offered him- pj^^ ^^
self, as against Montezuma. Although he Capture
was required many times to obey the roy- Cacamtzin
al mandates of Your Majesty, he never complied,
for, besides my sending to require him, Montezuma
also sent to summon him, but he answered that, if
anything was wanted of him, they should come to his
country, and that there he would show what he was
worth, and the service he was obliged to render. Ac-
cording to my information, he had gathered a multitude
of warriors well prepared for action. As I was unable to

Toltecs. When I visited them in 1884 they were then so overgrown
with vegetation, and in such a state of progressive dilapidation, that
their total destruction seemed assured, unless prompt measures were
taken for their preservation. (Humboldt, Vues des CordilUres.
Chamay, Ancient Cities of the New World.)

56. While Cacamatzin was kept in Montezuma's capital, his brother
had been killed by the Spaniards, and a tribute levied on Texcoco,
with such methods that it differed only in name from pillage. When
the King contrived to escape from Mexico, he assembled other princes of
the neighbourhood in Texcoco, among whom were his brothers Coano-
coch and Ixtlilxochitl, to whom he proposed that a stand should be
at once made against the invaders. Premature wranglings over the
division of the fruits of their expected victories broke up this council,
not only without any practical decision having been reached, but
with sharpened animosity between the three rival brothers. Monte-
zuma's part in the treachery, which Cortes naively describes, was
despicable. Coanococh and Ixtlilxochitl were among the conspirators
who betrayed the King.

Cacamatzin, when brought into Montezuma's presence to hear his
exhortations to make peace with the Spaniards, upbraided the Em-
peror for his cowardice and treachery. His death will be noticed
in a later note.

250 Letters of Cortes

win him, cither by warnings or requirements, I spoke to
Montezuma, and asked his advice as to what we ought
to do, for the rebelHon should not remain unchastised.
He answered, that to seize him by force, would expose
us to much danger, as he was a great lord, and had many
forces and people, and could not be taken without great
risk of many people perishing. He had, however,
many chiefs from the country of Cacamazin who lived
with him and whom he paid and he would speak with
them, so that they might win over some of Cacamazin's
people, and being assured that they would favour our
party, we could take him with safety.

Montezuma came to an understanding with those
persons, who induced Cacamazin to meet them in the
city of Tezcuco, for the purpose of deliberating on certain
matters of state, for, as chiefs, they were grieved that
he was doing certain things that might ruin him. Thus,
they assembled in a very beautiful palace of Cacamazin's
on the borders of the lake, so constructed that canoes
can pass under it, going in and out. They had secretly
prepared certain canoes, with forces in readiness, in case
the said Cacamazin should resist his imprisonment, and,
while in this consultation, the chiefs seized him, before
his people suspected anything, and brought him across
the lake to the great city, which I have already said is
six leagues from there. When they arrived, they placed
him in a litter, as was customary, and required by his
rank, and brought him to me, and I ordered chains to be
put on him, and held him in very safe keeping.

Acting on the advice of Montezuma, in the name of
Your Majesty, I placed his son, w^hose name is Cucuz-
cacin, ^ in his lordship, and I ordered that all the tribes
and lords of the said province and lordship should obey
him as ruler, until Your Highness should order other-

1 Cuicuitzcatzin : a younger brother who was baptised and became
known as Don Carlos.

Second Letter 251

wise. Thus it was done thenceforward, and all obeyed
and served him as lord, the same as the said Cacamazin;
and he was obedient in everything I commanded in Your
Majesty's name.

A few days after the imprisonment of Cacamazin,
Montezuma held a meeting of all the lords of the city
and the neighbouring countries; and, when speech of
all were assembled, he sent to ask me to Montezuma
join them, and, when I arrived, he spoke *o ^^^

in this manner: "My brothers and friends, you
know that, for a long time you, and 3^our fathers,
and grandfathers, have been, and are, subjects and
vassals of my forefathers and myself, and that you
have always been well treated by them, and by me, and
that you have likewise done what good subjects are
obliged to do towards their rightful sovereign. I also
believe that you have kept in mind, from your fore-
fathers, that we are not natives of this country, and that
they came to it from another, very far off, that they were
brought here by a sovereign, whose vassals they all were,
who left them in it, but who returned after a long time;
that he found our forefathers already settled and es-
tablished in this country, and married to the w^omen, and
having a great increase of sons, so that they did not
choose to return with him, nor much less to receive him as
their sovereign; and that he departed, saying that he
would return, or send such a force that they would be
compelled to submit. You also know, that we have
always expected him, and, according to what the Captain
has told us of that King and Lord who has sent him
here, and according to the direction whence he says he
comes, I hold it to be certain, and you must also hold it
thus, that his sovereign is the one we have been expect-
ing especially as the Captain says that they have had
information there respecting us.

"Since our predecessors did not act justly towards

2s2

Letters of Cortes

their sovereign lord, let us do so, and let us give thanks
to our gods, because that which they looked for has come
to pass in our times. I heartily pray you, inasmuch as
all this is well known to you, that, as you have obeyed
me as your sovereign, henceforward you will regard and
obey this great king, because he is your rightful sovereign,
and, in his place, you must hold this, his Captain; also
that all the tributes and services, which until now you
have paid to me, you do give to him, because I also
shall pay tribute, and ser\^e in all that he may command
me. In so doing, you will do your duty as you are obliged
to do, and you will, moreover, in doing this, give me much
pleasure."

All this he told them, weeping the greatest tears, and
the greatest sighs, a man can give vent to; and all those
lords who had heard him were likewise weeping so much,
that, during a considerable time, thev were unable to
answer. And I assure Your Sacred Majesty, that there
was not one among the Spaniards who heard this
discourse who did not feel great compassion.

After they had somewhat restrained their tears, they
answered, that they regarded him as their sovereign, and
they promised to do all that he ordered them to do, and
that for this, and for the reason he had given them,
they would do it gladly; that henceforth, for all time,
they gave themselves as vassals of Your Highness and
henceforth they, all together, and each one singly, would
promise, and did promise, to comply with all that should
be commanded them in the royal name of Your Majesty,
as good and loyal vassals ought to do ; and that they would
concur with their tributes and services, which heretofore
they had given to the said Montezuma, and with every-
thing else which might be commanded in the name of
Your Highness. All this passed before a notary public,
who at my request recorded it in due form, in the presence
of many Spaniards for witnesses.

Second Letter 253

This decision and offer of the said lords, for the royal
service of Your Majesty having been completed, I spoke
to Montezuma one day, and told him that Your Treasure
Highness was in need of gold, on account of cer- Collected
tain works ordered to be made, and I besought by the
him to send some of his people, and I would P^mards
also send some Spaniards, to the provinces and houses
of those lords who had there submitted themselves,
to pray them to assist Your Majesty with some
part of what they had. Besides Your Highness's need,
this would testify that they began to render ser-
vice, and Your Highness would the more esteem their
good will towards your service; and I told him that he
also should give me from his treasures, as I wished to
send them to Your Majesty, as I had done with the other
things. He asked me afterwards to choose the Spaniards
whom I wished to send, and two by two, and five by
five, he distributed them through many provinces and
cities, whose names I do not remember, as the papers
have been lost, and also because they were many and
divers; and moreover some of them were at eighty and
one hundred leagues from the said great city of Temix-
titan. He sent some of his people with them ordering
them to go to the lords of those provinces and cities,
and tell them that I had commanded each one of them
to contribute a certain measure of gold which he gave
them. Thus it was done, and all those lords to whom
he sent gave very compliantly, as had been asked, not
only in valuables, but also in bars and sheets of gold,
besides all the jewels of gold, and silver, and the feather-
work, and the stones, and the many other things of value
which I assigned and allotted to Your Sacred Majesty,
amounting to the sum of one hundred thousand ducats
and more. These, besides their value, are such, and so
marvellous, that for the sake of their novelty and strange-
ness they have no price, nor is it probable that all the

254 T.cttcrs of Cortes

princes ever heard of in the world, possess such treasures.
Let not what I say appear fabulous to Your Majesty,
because, in truth, all the things created on land, as well
as in the sea, of which Montezuma had ever heard, were
imitated in gold, most naturally, as well as in silver, and
in precious stones, and feather work, with such perfection
that they seemed almost real. He gave me a large num-
ber of these for Your Highness, besides others, he ordered
to be made in gold, for which I furnished him the
designs, such as images, cnicifixes, medals, jewelry of
small value, and many other of our things which I made
them copy. In the same manner. Your Highness ob-
tained, as the one-fifth of the silver which was received,
one hundred and odd marks, which I made the natives
cast in large and small plates, pomngers, cups, and
spoons, which they executed as perfectly as we could
make them comprehend.

Besides these, Alontezuma gave me a large quantity of
stuffs, which considering it was cotton, and not silk,
was such that there could not be woven anything similar
in the whole world, for texture, colours, and handiwork.
Amongst these, were many marvellous dresses for men
and women, bed clothing, with which that made of silk
could not be compared, and other stuffs such as tapestry,
suitable for drawing-rooms and churches. There were
also blankets and rugs, for beds both of feather-work,
and of cotton in divers colours, also very marvellous,
and many other things so curious and numerous I do
not know how to specify them to Your Majesty. He
also gave me a dozen cerbatanas,^ with which he shoots,
and of their perfection I likewise know not what to say
to Your Highness; for they were decorated with very
excellent paintings of perfect hues, in which there were
figures of many different kinds of birds, animals, flowers,
and divers other objects, and the mouthpieces and

» Long tubes or pipes.

Second Letter 255

extremities were bordered with gold, a span deep, as was
also the middle, all beautifully worked. He gave me a
pouch of gold net-work for the balls, which he told me he
would give me also of gold. He gave me also some tur-
quoises [sic] of gold, and many other things, whose
number is almost infinite. ^

To give an account, Very Powerful Lord, of the great-
ness, and the strange and marvellous things of this great
city of Temixtitan to Your Royal Excellency, and of all
the dominions and splendour of Montezuma its sovereign ;
of all the rites and customs which these people practise,
and of the order prevailing in the government, not only
of this city, but also of others belonging to this lord,
much time and many very expert narrators would be
required. I shall never be able to say one-hundredth
part of what might be told respecting them, but, neverthe-
less, as far as I am able, I shall speak of some of the things
I have seen, which although badly described, I know very
well will cause so much wonder, that they will hardly
be believed, because even we, who see them here with
our own eyes, are unable to comprehend their reality.
Your Majesty may be assured, that, if there be anything
wanting in my relation, it will be rather in falling short,
than by overdrawing, not only in this, but in all other
matters of which I shall give an account to Your High-
ness; but it seems to me only just towards my Prince
and Sovereign to tell him very clearly the truth, without
interpolating matters which diminish or exaggerate it.

Before beginning to describe this great city, and the

others which I mentioned in the other chapter, it

> It had been decided at the outset, by common accord, that,
after deducting the royal fifth of all spoils and profits of whatso-
ever nature, which went to the crown, one fifth of the remainder should
be the portion of Cortes. All the rest was to be divided among the
members of the expedition, those who remained in garrison at Vera
Cruz sharing equally with those who started on the march to Mexico.
(Doc. Ined., torn. XXVI., p. 5-16, tom. XXVII., p. 37. Bernal Diaz
cap. cv.)

256 Letters of Cortes

appears to mc that to unclerstand them better I
should describe Mexico, which is where this great city,
Cortes some others of which I have spoken, and the
Describes principal seat of Montezuma's dominion are.
Mexico to This province is ciroular, and completely

^^ ^^ ' surrounded by high and rugged mountains.
Its plain is perhaps seventy leagues in circumfer-
ence, in which there are two lakes, ^ occupying al-
most all of it, for a canoe travels fifty leagues within
their borders, and one of these lakes is of fresh water,
and the other larger one is salt. The lakes are divided
from one another on one side by a small chain of very
high hills, in the middle of one end of this plain, except
for a strait between these hills and the high moun-
tains ; the strait is about a bow shot across. Communi-
cation between one lake and the other, and between
the cities, and the other towns round about, is by
means of canoes, with no need of going by land.
The large salt lake rises and falls in its tides like the
sea; its waters, w^henev^er it rises, falling into the
fresh-water lake as rapidly as though it were a great
river; and when it ebbs, the fresh water then runs into
the salt lake.

This great city of Temixtitan is built on the salt lake,
and from the mainland to the city is a distance of two
leagues, from any side from which you enter. It has
four approaches by means of artificial causeways, two
cav^alry lances in width. The city is as large as Seville
or Cordoba. Its streets (I speak of the principal ones)
are very broad and straight, some of these, and all the
others, are one half land, and the other half water on
which they go about in canoes. All the streets haev
openings at regular intervals, to let the water flow frmo
one to the other, and at all of these openings, some of

» The lakes of Chalco and Texcoco, the first being of fresh, and the
second, of salt water.

Second Letter 257

which are very broad, there are bridges, very large, strong,
and well constructed, so that, over many, ten horsemen
can ride abreast. Perceiving that, if the inhabitants
wished to practise any treachery against us, they had
plenty of opportunity, because the said city being built
as I have described, they might, by raising the bridges
at the exits and entrances, starve us without our being
able to reach land, as soon as I entered the city,
I made great haste to build four brigantines, which
I had completed in a short time, capable whenever we
might wish, of taking three hundred men and the horses
to land.

The city has many squares where markets are held
and trading is carried on. There is one square, twice
as large as that of Salamanca, all sur- xhe Great
rounded by arcades, where there are daily Market-
more than sixty thousand souls, buying and P^^<^^
selling, and where are found all the kinds of merchan-
dise produced in these countries, including food pro-
ducts, jewels of gold and silver, lead, brass, copper,
zinc, stone, bones, shells, and feathers. Stones are sold,
hewn and unhewn, adobe bricks, wood, both in the
rough and manufactured in various ways. There is a
street for game, where they sell every sort of bird, such
as chickens, partridges, quails, wild ducks, fly-catchers,
widgeons, turtle-doves, pigeons, reed-birds, parrots, owls,
eaglets, owlets, falcons, sparrow-hawks and kestrels,
and they sell the skins of some of these birds of prey
with their feathers, heads, beaks, and claws. They
sell rabbits, hares, and small dogs which they castrate,
and raise for the purpose of eating.

There is a street set apart for the sale of herbs, where
can be found every sort of root and medical herb which
grows in the country. There are houses like apothecary
shops, where prepared medicines are sold, as well as
liquids, ointments, and plasters. There are places like

VOL. I.— 17

258 Letters of Cortes

our barber's shops, where they wash and shave their
heads. There are houses where they supply food and
drink for payment. There are men, such as in Castile
are called porters, who carry burdens. There is much
wood, charcoal, braziers made of earthenware, and mats
of divers kinds for beds, and others, very thin, used as
cushions, and for carpeting halls, and bed-rooms. There
are all sorts of vegetables, and especially onions, leeks,
garlic, borage, nasturtium, water-cresses, sorrel, thistles,
and artichokes. There are many kinds of fruits, amongst
others cherries, and prunes, like the Spanish ones. They
sell bees-honey and wax, and honey made of corn stalks,
which is as sweet and syrup-like as that of sugar, also
honey of a plant called maguey,^ which is better than
most; from these same plants they make sugar and
wine, which they also sell.

They also sell skeins of different kinds of spun cotton,
in all colours, so that it seems quite like one of the silk
markets of Granada, although it is on a greater scale;
also as many different colours for painters as can be found
in Spain and of as excellent hues. They sell deer skins
with all the hair tanned on them, and of different colours ;
much earthenware, exceedingly good, many sorts of
pots, large and small, pitchers, large tiles, an infinite
variety of vases, all of very singular clay, and most of
them glazed and painted. They sell maize, both in the
grain and made into bread, which is very superior in its
quality to that of the other islands and mainland; pies
of birds, and fish, also much fish, fresh, salted, cooked,

> The whitish, slippery, fermented liquor called pulque is ex-
tracted from the maguey and is still the popular drink in Mexico;
as it must be drunk fresh, special pulque trains daily carry supplies
to towns along the railway lines. Flavoured with pineapple, straw-
berry, and other fresh fruit juices, and well iced, it is a very good drink,
wholesome, and only intoxicating if drunk immoderately. The manu-
facture and sale of the fiery spirit, mescal, also drawn from the maguey,
are under careful restrictions and it is as destructive as absinthe.

Second Letter 259

and raw; eggs of hens, and geese, and other birds in great
quantity, and cakes made of eggs.

Finally, besides those things I have mentioned, they
sell in the city markets ev^erything else which is found
in the whole country and which, on account of the pro-
fusion and number, do not occur to my memory,
and which also I do not tell of, because I do not know
their names.

Each kind of merchandise is sold in its respective
street, and they do not mix their kinds of merchandise
of any species ; thus they preserve perfect order. Every-
thing is sold by a kind of measure, and, until now, we
have not seen anything sold by weight.

There is in this square a very large building, like a
Court of Justice, where there are always ten or twelve
persons, sitting as judges, and delivering their decisions
upon all cases which arise in the markets. There are
other persons in the same square who go about continually
among the people, observing what is sold, and the meas-
ures used in selling, and they have been seen to break
some which were false.

This great city contains many mosques, or houses
for idols, very beautiful edifices situated in the different
precincts of it; in the principal ones of The Aztec
which are the religious orders of their sect. Priests
for whom, besides the houses in which they keep
their idols, there are very good habitations pro-
vided. All these priests dress in black, and never
cut or comb their hair from the time they enter
the religious order until they leave it; and the sons
of all the principal families, both of chiefs as well as
noble citizens, are in these religious orders and habits
from the age of seven or eight years till they are taken
away for the purpose of marriage. This happens more
frequently with the first-bom, who inherit the property,
than with the others. They have no access to women.

26o Letters of Cortes

nor are any allowed to enter the religious houses; they
abstain from eating certain dishes, and more so at certain
times of the year than at others.

Amongst these mosques, there is one principal one, and
no human tongue is able to describe its greatness and
details, because it is so large that within its circuit, which
is surrounded by a high wall, a \illage of five hundred
houses could easily be built. Within, and all around it,
are very handsome buildings, in which there are large
rooms and galleries, where the religious who live there
are lodged. There are as many as forty very high and
well-built towers, the largest having fifty steps to reach
the top ; the principal one is higher than the tower of the
chief church in Seville. ^ They are so well built, both
in their masonry, and their wood work, that they could not
be better made nor constructed anywhere; for all the
masonry inside the chapels, where they keep their idols,
is carved with figures, and the wood work is all wrought
with designs of monsters, and other shapes. All these
towers are places of burial for the chiefs, and each one
of their chapels is dedicated to the idol to which they
have a particular devotion. Within this great mosque,
there are three halls wherein stand the principal idols
of mar\'ellous grandeur in size, and much decorated with
carved figures, both of stone and wood; and within these
halls there are other chapels, entered by very small doors,
and which have no Hght, and nobody but the religious
are admitted to them. Within these are the images and
figures of the idols, although, as I have said, there are
many outside.

The principal idols in w^hich they have the most
faith and belief I overturned from their seats, and rolled
CQjtgg down the stairs, and I had those chapels,
Overthrows where they kept them, cleansed, for they were
the Idols full of blood from the sacrifices; and

> See Appendix V. , close of Letter.

Second Letter 261

I set up images of Our Lady, and other Saints in
them, which grieved Montezuma, and the natives
not a little. At first they told me not to do it, for, if it
became known throughout the town, the people would
rise against me, as they believed that these idols gave
them all their temporal goods, and, in allowing them to
be ill-treated, they would be angered, and give nothing,
and would take away all the fruits of the soil, and cause
the people to die of want. I made them understand by
the interpreters how deceived they were in putting their
hope in idols, made of unclean things by their own hands,
and I told them that they should know there was but one
God, the Universal Lord of all, who had created the
heavens, and earth, and all things else, and them, and us,
who was without beginning, and immortal ; that they should
adore, and believe in Him, and not in any creature, or
thing. I told them all I knew of these matters, so as
to win them from their idolatries, and bring them to a
knowledge of God, Our Lord; and all of them, especially
Montezuma, answered that they had already told me they
were not natives of this country, and that it was a long
time since their forefathers had come to it, therefore
they might err in some points of their belief, as it was so
long since they left their native land, whilst I, who had
recently arrived, should know better than they what
they should believe, and hold; and if I would tell them,
and explain to them, they would do what I told them,
as being for the best. Montezuma and many chiefs of
the city remained with me until the idols were taken
away and the chapels cleansed, and the images put up,
and they all wore happy faces. I forbade them to sacri-
fice human beings to the idols, as they were accustomed
to do, for besides its being very hateful to God, Your
Majesty had also prohibited it by your laws, and com-
manded that those who killed should be put to death.
Henceforth they aboHshed it, and, in all the time I

262 Letters of Cortes

remained in the city, never again were they seen to
sacrifice any human creature.

The figures of the idols, in which those people believe,
exceed in size the body of a large man. They are made
of a mass of all the seeds and vegetables which they eat,
ground up and mixed wdth one another, and kneaded
with the hearts' blood of human beings, whose breasts
are opened when alive, the hearts being removed, and,
with the blood which comes out, is kneaded the flour,
making the quantity necessary to construct a great
statue. When these are finished the priests offer them
more hearts, which have likewise been sacrificed, and
besmear the faces with the blood. The idols are dedicated
to different things, as was the custom of the heathen who
anciently honoured their gods. Thus, to obtain favours
in war these people have one idol, for harvests another,
and for everything in which they desire any good, they
have idols whom they honour and serve.

There are many large and handsome houses in this
city, and the reason for this is that all the lords of the
country, vassals of Montezuma, inhabit their houses in
the city a certain part of the year; moreover there are
many rich citizens, who likewise have very good houses.
Besides having very good and large dwelling places, all
these people have very beautiful flower gardens of divers
kinds, as well in the upper, as in the lower dwellings.

Along one of the causeways which lead to the
city, there are two conduits of masonry each two
The paces broad, and five feet deep, ^ through one

Aqueducts of which a volume of very good fresh water,
the bulk of a man's body, flows into the heart of
the city, from which all supply themselves, and drink.
The other which is empty brings the water, when
they w^ish to clean the first conduit, for, while one
is being cleaned, the water flows through the other.

> An estado was a man's height, or about five and one-half feet.

Second Letter 263

Conduits as large round as an ox's body bring the fresh
water across the bridges, thus avoiding the channels by
which the salt-water flows, and in this manner the whole
city is supplied, and everybody has water to drink.
Canoes peddle the water through all the streets, and the
way they take it from the conduits is this : the canoes stop
under the bridges where the conduits cross, where men
are stationed on the top who are paid to fill them. At
the different entrances to the city, and wherever the
canoes are unloaded, which is where the greatest quan-
tity of provisions enter the city, there are guards, in huts
to collect a cerium quid of everything that comes in. I
do not know whether this goes to the sovereign, or to
the city, because up till now I have not been able to
ascertain, but I believe it is for the sovereign, for, in
other market places of other provinces, that contribution
has been seen to be paid to the ruler. There are to be
found daily in the markets and public places of the city
many workmen, and masters of all trades, waiting to be
hired.

The people of this city had better manners, and more
luxury in their dressing and service, than those of other
provinces and cities, for the reason that the sovereign,
Montezuma, always resided there, and all the nobles, his
vassals, frequented the city, so better manners, and
more ceremony prevailed. But to avoid being prolix
in describing the things of the city (though I would fain
continue), I will not say more than that, in the service
and manners of its people, their fashion of living was al-
most the same as in Spain, with just as much harmony and
order ; and considering that these people were barbarous,
so cut off from the knowledge of God, and other civilised
peoples, it is admirable to see to what they attained
in every respect. As far as the service surrounding
Montezimia is concerned, and the admirable attributes
of his greatness and state, there is so much to write that

264 Letters of Cortes

I assure Your Highness I do not know where to begin,
so as to finish what I would say of any part respecting it.
For, as I have already said, what greater grandeur can
there be, than that a barbarian monarch, like him, should
have imitations in gold, silver, stones, and feather-work,
of all the things existing under heaven in his dominion? —
gold, and silver, things, so like to nature, that there is
not a silversmith in the world who could do it better;
and, respecting the stones, there is no imagination which
can divine the instruments with which they were so
perfectly executed; and respecting the feather-work,
neither in wax, nor in embroidery, could nature be so
marvellously imitated.

So far, the extent of Montezuma's kingdom is not
known, but everyw^here within two hundred leagues
Extent of °^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ Other side of this capital,
the Aztec wherever he sent, his messengers were not
Sovereignty disregarded, ^ although there were some pro-
vinces in the midst of these countries with which he
was at war. From what has been learned, and from
what I understand from him, I judge that his territories
were as large as Spain; for he sent messengers from
here to Puntunchan, at sixty leagues distance, beyond
the river of Grijalba, ordering the natives of a city, called
Cumatan,2 to give themselves as vassals to Your Ma-
jesty; and that is a distance of two hundred and thirty
leagues from the great city. This I know for I have made
the Spaniards go a distance of more than a hundred
and fifty in that direction.

All the other lords of this country and province, es-
pecially those of the neighboui-hood, resided as I have
already said, a greater part of the year in the capital,

* Humboldt estimates its extension at 20,000 square leagues,
and as comprising in his time, the intendencies of Vera Cruz, Mexico,
Oaxaca, and Valladolid.

2 Given in Archbishop Lorenzana's edition as Jumathlan, a town
between the provinces of Oaxaca and Chiapa.

Second Letter 265

and all, or at least most of them, had their first-born sons
in the service of Montezuma. There were fortified places
in the dominions of these lords, and Montezuma sent
his own people amongst them as governors, and collectors
of the taxes and rents which he received from each pro-
vince. These men kept an account of what each province
was obHged to give, by means of characters and figures,
written on the paper they make, showing what each
province was obliged to pay according to the quality of
its land. In this manner, produce from all the said
provinces came into his possession.

He was so feared by the present, as well as the absent,
that there was never prince in the world more so. He
had many pleasure houses, within and without the city,
each as well constructed, to serve for its particular kind
of pastime, as could be described or desired for so great
a lord. Within the city, he had residences such and so
marvellous that it seems to me almost impossible to
speak of their excellence and grandeur. So I Hmit myself
to saying that there is nothing comparable with them in
Spain,

He had a house, a little inferior to this one, where
there was a beautiful garden, with arbors overhanging
it, of which the marbles and tiles were of Montezu-
jasper, beautifully worked. In this house there ma's

were apartments for two great princes, and all Palaces
their servants. It had ten pools of w^ater, in which
were kept all the many and divers breeds of water-
fowl found in these parts, all domesticated; for the
sea-birds, too, there were pools of salt w^ater, and,
for those of the rivers and lakes, there was fresh water,
which for the sake of cleanliness, they renewed at certain
times by means of pipes. To each kind of bird they
gave the food which suited its habits in its free state, so
that to those which ate fish they gave it ; and, likewise,
worms, maize, and smaller seeds were supplied as required

266 Letters of Cortes

by the different birds. I assure Your Highness that all
those birds which ate only fish received each day two
hundred and fifty pounds, caught in the salt lakes. Three
hundred men had the charge of these birds, for their sole
employment. There were others who were occupied only
in curing the birds which were ailing. Over each pool
for these birds, there were beautifully decorated galleries,
and corridors, where Montezuma came to amuse himself
by watching them. There was an apartment in this house
in which were men, women, and children, white of face,
body, hair, and eyelashes from the day of their birth.
There was another very beautiful house, with a large
court, paved with flags, in the pattern of a chess board.

There were also houses about nine feet in height, and
about six paces square ; one half of each was covered wath a
roofing of square tiles, and the other half, which was open,
had a stout lattice of wood. Each of these houses con-
tained a bird of prey, representing all the sorts known in
Spain, from the kestrel to the eagle, besides many other
kinds, which had never been seen there; and there were
great numbers of each of these kinds. Across the tops
of these houses there was a perch, and another one out
beyond the lattice, so that the birds might use the one at
night and when it was raining, and the other to sun them-
selves, and take the air. All these birds were fed daily on
chickens, with no other food. There were certain large
rooms in this palace, fitted with great cages, very well
constructed, and joined with heavy timbers, in all or
most of which were kept lions, tigers, foxes, and every
kind of cat in considerable numbers. These were also
fed on chickens. Three hundred other men had charge
of these animals and birds.

There was another house where many monstrous men
and women lived, amongst whom there were dwarfs,
hunchbacks, and deformed; and each manner of monster
had a room apart, and they also had persons to take

Second Letter 267

charge of them. I do not mention the other diverting
things Montezuma had in this city, because they were so
many, and so various.

His service was organised as follows: at dawn every
day, six hundred lords, and men of rank, came to
his palace. Some of these sat down, and Etiquette
others walked about in the halls and corridors of Monte-
of the palace, talking and passing the time, zuma's
but without entering the room where he was; ^^

the servants and retainers who accompanied them filled
two or three great courts, and the street, which was very
large. They remained in attendance until night. When
they served food to Montezuma, they likewise served all
those lords with like profusion, and their servants and fol-
lowers also received their rations. The larder and the wine
cellar were open daily to all who wished to eat or drink.

The way they served the meals is this: three or four
hundred youths carried in countless dishes, for, every
time he wished to dine or sup, they brought him all the
different dishes, not only meats, but also fish, and fruits,
and herbs, to be fotmd in the land; and as the climate
is cold they brought, under each plate and dish, a brazier
of coals, so that the food should not get cold. They placed
all the dishes together in a great room where he dined,
which was almost filled ; its floors were all very well covered
and very clean, and he sat on a small cushion of leather,
beautifully made. Whilst he was eating, there were five or
six elder lords standing a short distance from him, to whom
he offered from the dishes he was eating. One of the serv-
ants waited to bring and remove the dishes for him, which
were passed by others, who stood further off as the service
required. At the beginning and end of each meal, they
always brought him water for his hands, and the towel,
once used, he never used again; nor were the plates and
service in which a dish was served ever brought again;
and it was the same with the braziers.

268 Letters of Cortes

He dressed himself four times every day, in four different
kinds of clothing, all new, and never would he be dressed
with the same again. All the lords who entered his palace
came barefooted, and, when those whom he had sum-
moned appeared before him, it was with their heads bent,
and their eyes on the ground, in humble posture; and,
when they spoke to him, they did not look him in the
face, because of respect and reverence. I know they
did this out of respect, for certain lords reproved the
Spaniards, saying, that when these latter spoke to me,
they would behave with a lofty demeanour, looking
me in the face, which seemed to them disrespectful and
shameless. When Montezuma went out, which happened
rarely, all those who accompanied him and those whom he
met in the street, turned their faces aside, and in no wise
looked at him, and all the rest prostrated themselves until
he had passed. One of the lords, who carried three long
thin rods, always went before him, and I believe this was
done to give notice of his approach. When he descended
from his litter, he took one of those rods in his hand,
and carried it as far as he went. The ceremonies which
this sovereign used in his service were so many, and of such
different kinds, that more space than I have at present
would be required to relate them, and even a better
memory to retain them; for I believe none of the Sultans,
or any infidel sovereign of whom we have had information
until now, has ever had such ceremonial in his court.

I have been occupied in this capital in what seemed
to conduce to the service of Your Sacred Majesty, and in
pacifying and winning over to it many provinces, thickly
peopled countries, very great cities, towns, and forts;
and in discovering mines, and learning and inquiring
into many of the secrets of Montezuma's dominions, as
well as of others which border on them, of which he
had information. These are so many and so marvellous,
that they are almost incredible. In this, I have been

Second Letter 269

assisted, with as much good will and satisfaction on the
part of Montezuma and the natives, as if they, ab initio,
had recognised Your Sacred Majesty as their king and
rightful sovereign; and with no less good will have they
done all I commanded them in your royal name. In all
these things mentioned, and in others no less useful to
the service of Your Highness, I spent from the eighth
of November, 15 19, to the beginning of May this present
year.

While all was quiet and tranquil in this city, and
many Spaniards were distributed through divers parts,
pacifying the people in the country, I greatly jjg^g ^f ^^le
desired that ships might arrive, with the Arrival of
answer to the accoimt I had sent to Your Narvaez
Majesty, so that I might forward what I now send,
together with all the gold and jewels I had collected
for Your Highness. At that time there came certain
natives, vassals of Montezuma, who live on the coast,
telling me that, near the mountain chain of San Martin,
which is on the said coast, before reaching the port
and bay of San Juan, eighteen ships had arrived ; and that
they did not know whose they were, because, as soon
as they espied them on the sea, they came to let me know.
Following the said Indians, there came also a native of
the island of Fernandina, who brought me a letter from
a Spaniard, whom I had stationed on the coast. This I
had done that he might give information about me, and
about that town near the port, to any ships that might
arrive, so that they might not be lost. In this letter he
said that, "on such a day, a single ship had arrived off
the harbour of San Juan," and that he had examined
all the coast as far as the eye could reach, but had dis-
covered no other, and therefore believed it to be the
ship I had sent to Your Majesty, since it was time for
this to return. In order to satisfy himself more fully,
he said that he would stay, waiting for the arrival of

270 Letters of Cortes

the said ship in port, so as to get information which he
would immediately bring me.

Having read this letter, I despatched two Spaniards one
by one road, and the other by another, so that they might
miss no messenger coming from the ship. I directed them
to go to the said port, and ascertain how many ships
had arrived, from whence they came, and what they
brought, and to return as quickly as possible to tell me,
I likewise sent another to the city of Vera Cruz, to an-
nounce what I had learned about those ships, so that they
might get information there, and let me know; and another
went to the Captain (whom I had sent with a hundred
and fifty men, to form a settlement at the port of Quacu-
calco), to whom I wrote, that, as I had learned that
certain ships had arrived at the port, he should stop
wherever that messenger might meet him, and not pro-
ceed any further, until I should write to him again.
It afterwards appeared, however, that he already
knew of the arrival of the ships when he received my
letter.

Fifteen days elapsed after the departure of the messen-
gers, and as I had no news or answers from them, I was
not a little alarmed. When these fifteen days had passed,
other Indians, also vassals of Montezuma, arrived, from
whom I learned that the said ships had already anchored
in the port of San Juan, and the people had disembarked ;
that they had brought about eighty horses, eight hundred
men, and ten or twelve pieces of artillery. All of this
report was pictured on paper of the country, to be shown
to Montezuma. The messengers also told me, that the
Spaniard I had stationed on the coast, and the other
messengers I had sent, were with the said people, and
had told these Indians that the captain of those people
would not allow^ them to return, and for them to tell me
this. Having heard this, I determined to send a religious,
whom I had brought in my company, bearing a letter of

Second Letter 271

mine, and another from the alcalde and the municipal
officers of the city of Vera Cruz who were with me, ad-
dressed to the captain and people who had arrived at that
port. In these letters we informed him very fully of all
that had happened to me in this country; that I held
many cities and ports conquered and pacified, subject
to the royal service of Your Majesty ; that I had taken the
principal lord of all these regions prisoner, and that I was
in the capital. We wrote all about its character, and the
gold and jewels I had obtained for Your Highness, and
how I had given an account to Your Majesty of the
country. I asked them to let me know who they were,
and if they were rightful subjects of the kingdom and
lordships of Your Highness, to write to me whether they
had come to this country by a royal mandate to settle
permanently, or intended to advance or return; adding
that, if they needed anything, I would have them pro-
vided with everything possible. I said also that, if they
came from any place outside the dominions and kingdoms
of Your Highness, to likewise let me know, for if they
needed anything I would also supply it, if I could. If
they refused to inform me, I required them on the part
of Your Majesty to leave your countries, and not to land
in them, with the threat that, if they persisted, I would
march against them with all the force I had, both Span-
iards and natives, and would take them, and kill them as
foreign invaders of the kingdoms and dominions of my
king and sovereign.

Within five or six days after the religious had gone
with the despatch, twenty Spaniards, whom I had
left in the city of Vera Cruz, arrived in the Designs of
city of Temixtitan, and brought me a cleric Panfilo de
and two other laymen whom they had taken Narvaez
in the said city. From them I learned, that the
armada and people in the port belonged to Diego
Velasquez, and had come by his orders, under a certain

2-] 2 Letters of Cortes

Panfilo dc Narvaoz, ' a householder of the island of
Fernandina, as their captain; that they brought eighty
horses, many pieces of artillery, and eight hundred soldiers,
among which latter were eighty musketeers, and a hundred
and twenty bowmen; that Narvaez came with a com-
mission as Captain-General, and Lieutenant-Governor
of all these parts, by appointment of Diego Velasquez,
with faculties from Your Majesty for all this; that the
messengers I had sent, and the man I had stationed on
the coast were with Panfilo de Narvaez, who would not
allow them to return, and that he had information himself
from them about my founding that town twelve leagues
from the said port, and of the people who were in it, as
well as about the people I had sent to Quacucalco, thirty
leagues from the port, in a province called Tuchitepeque,
I learned also that Narvaez knew of everything I had
done in the country in the service of Your Highness;
about the cities and towns I had pacified and about the
great city of Temixtitan; about the gold and jewels we
had obtained in the country, and all else that had hap-
pened to me. Narvaez had sent these men to Vera Cruz,
to try to win over the inhabitants to his design that they
should rebel against me. They brought me more than a
hundred letters which Nar\^aez and his companions sent
to people in Vera Cruz, telling them to credit what the
cleric and the others with him w^ould say in his name,
promising them in the name of Diego Velasquez, that,
if they would do so, they should be rewarded, but that

> Panfilo de Narvaez, a native of Valladolid, first settled in
Jamaica, afterwards taking part in the conquest of Cuba, as captain
of thirty bowmen, when he won the friendship of Diego Velasquez,
who made him one of his chief captains. Las Casas describes him as
well behaved, and brave but imprudent, but Bemal Diaz's opinion
of him was less pleasing as he calls him vain, presumptuous, foolish,
and proud, but admits his bravery. He was forty years old when he
came to Mexico to arrest Cortes and send him back to Cuba. He
brought with him the curse of small-pox, which was thus introduced
into Mexico by a negro of his crew.

Second Letter 273

those who acted to the contrary would be very severely
treated. Many other things contained in the said letters
were reported by the cleric and those who came with
him.

Almost simultaneously, there arrived one of the Span-
iards who had gone to Quacucalco, bringing letters from
his captain, one Velasquez de Leon, who informed me that
the expedition in the port was under Panfilo de Narvaez,
who came in the name of Diego Velasquez. This
Leon forwarded me a letter which Narvaez had sent him
by an Indian for he was a relative of Diego Velasquez,
and brother-in-law of Narvaez), telling him how he had
learned from my messengers that Leon was there with
those people, and bidding him come back immediately with
them, because, by so acting, he would fulfil his obliga-
tions towards his relative; that he believed I held him
by force, and other similar things which Narvaez wrote
to him. The captain being more devoted to Your Ma-
jesty's service, not only declined to accept what Narvaez
told him in his letter, but, after having sent the letter
to me, immediately left to join me with all his forces.
Afterwards I informed myself from that cleric, and the
two who accompanied him, respecting many things con-
cerning the intentions of Diego Velasquez and Narvaez;
how they had despatched that armada and force against
me, because, instead of to Diego Velasquez, I had sent to
Your Majesty the description of this country, and the pre-
sents ; and how they came with evil designs to kill me, and
many of my company whom they had already designated.
I ascertained likewise that the licentiate Figueroa, the
judge residing in the island of Hispaniola, and Your
Highness's judges and officials there, when they learned
that Diego Velasquez was preparing this armada, and his
intention in so doing, had perceived the hanii and injury
which would result to Your Majesty by their coming,
and had sent one of the said judges, the licentiate, Lucas

VOL. I— 18.

2 74 Letters of Cortes

Vasquez de Ayllon, ^ with powers to require and order
Diego Velasquez not to despatch the armada. Upon his
arrival, he found Diego Velasquez and all those armed
people at the point of the island of Fernandina, ready to
sail, and he required them, and those composing the
aiTnada, not to depart, because Your Highness would be
badly sen-ed, and he threatened them with many penalties,
notwithstanding which, and in spite of all the licentiate
required and ordered, Velasquez still sent the armada.
The licentiate, Ayllon, had come with them thinking
to prevent the harm which would follow from the arrival
of it, for it was notorious to him, and to everybody, that
the armada came with evil intentions.

I sent this cleric to Narvaez with a letter of mine, in
which I told him I had learned from the cleric, and those
who came with him, that he was captain of the armada,

> The audiencia of San Domingo, foreseeing the scandal which
was inevitable from such an expedition against Cortes, sent Lucas
Vasquez de Ayllon to Cuba with full powers to stop the preparations,
and prohibit the sailing. Ayllon followed Diego Velasquez to the port
of Trinidad where he had gone, and there learned that Narvaez was
at Xagua, some fourteen leagues distant, ready to join the others of
the fleet who were at Guaniguanico. He also discovered that most
of the able-bodied men in the colony had enlisted, and that the island
would be left with few defenders in case of trouble with the natives;
he went therefore to Xagua, and notified Narvaez not to sail, but to
go to Guaniguanico, where he intended to dissuade the governor from
the undertaking. Though Velasquez appeared at first to yield, he
ended by repudiating the authority of the audiencia, though he con-
sented to give pacific instructions to Narvaez as to his manner of dealing
with Cortes. Ayllon decided, at the last moment, to go himself with
the armada, and prevent trouble between the rival commanders if
possible. Narvaez however was heedless of the notary's protests at
San Juan de XJlua, and finally rid himself of his importunities by send-
ing him back to Cuba on one ship, and his secretary and the alguacil
on another. Thus, three months after his departure on his mission,
Ayllon landed at San Nicolas in San Domingo, making his way as best he
could on foot across the island to report his ill success to the audiencia.
This flouting of the audiencia cost Diego Velasquez any trivmiph he
might otherwise have hoped to gain over Cortes, and Narvaez's sum-
mary violence towards a representative of the government bears out
Bemal Diaz's estimate of his character.

Second Letter 275

and that I was glad it was he, as I had thought
otherwise seeing that my messengers had not returned.
I said, however, that, as he knew I was in this Cortes
country in Your Highness's service, I mar- Writes to
veiled that he did not write to me, or send Narvaez
me some messenger announcing his arrival, for he knew
that I would be rejoiced at it, not only because
of our old friendship, but also because he had come
to serve Your Highness, which was what I most desired.
Instead of which, I said, he had sent corruptors and
letters of seduction to those under me in Your Majesty's
service, inciting them to rebel against me, and join him,
as if we were infidels the one, and Christians the other,
vassals of Your Highness the one, and traitors the other.
I asked him as a favour that from hence forward he
would not use these means with me, but first let me know
the cause of his coming. I said I had been told that he
called himself Captain-General, and Lieutenant-Governor
for Diego Velasquez, and that he had so proclaimed him-
self by the public crier, publishing it in the country,
and had named alcaldes and municipal officers, and had
executed justice, all of which was against the good ser-
vice of Your Highness, and against all your laws; that
this was so because this country belonging to Your
Majesty, and being peopled by 3^our vassals, and having
tribunals and municipal bodies in it, he should not ap-
propriate to himself the said offices without first having
received them, inasmuch as to exercise them he should
bring provisions from Your Majesty; that, if he had
brought any such, I asked as a favour, and required him
to present them to me, and to the municipal authorities
of Vera Cruz, as they would be obeyed by those author-
ities, and by me, as letters and provisions of our King
and rightful Sovereign, and complied with as far as it
would profit to the service of Your Majesty; and that I
was in that city, where I held the monarch prisoner, and

276 Letters of Cortes

had a great sum of gold and valuables, belonging not
only to Your Highness, but also to my company and
myself, which I did not dare to leave, since I feared that,
if I left the city, the people might rebel, and such a quan-
tity of gold and jewels, and such a city, would be lost
which meant the loss of the whole country. I likewise
gave a letter to the said cleric for the licentiate Ayllon,
who, as I afterwards learned, had been sent away, with
two ships as a prisoner, by Narvaez before the cleric
arrived.

On the day the cleric left, I received a messenger from
the citizens of Vera Cruz, who informed me, that all the
natives had risen in favour of Narvaez, especially those
of the city of Cempoal and their party, and that none
would come to work in the said town and port, nor do
anything else, because they said that Narvaez had told
them that I was a traitor, and that he had come to take
me and all my company prisoners, and to make us leave
the country. As Narvaez's people were many, and mine
few, and he had brought many horses, and much artillery,
and I had little, they wished to be on the winning side.
The messengers informed me also that they had learned
from the Indians, that Narvaez would occupy the city
of Cempoal, knowing how near it was to their city, and
they believed from what they were informed of the said
Narvaez's bad intentions towards all, that he w^ould
from that place attack them, aided by the Cempoalans.
They let me know that they were leaving the town, rather
than fight with them, and to avoid scandal they would
go up the mountain to the house of a chief, vassal of
Your Highness, and our friend, where they would remain
until I sent them directions what to do.

As I saw the great mischief which was spreading, and
that the country was rebelling on account of Narvaez,
it appeared to me that, by going to him myself, all might
be appeased, because the Indians would not dare to

Second Letter 277

rebel on seeing me, and also because I thought to make

some sort of arrangement with Narvaez for stopping the

great evil at the outset. I thereupon started the same

day, leaving the fort well provided with maize and water,

and a garrison of five hundred men, with some cannon.

Taking the others (some seventy men), I pursued my

road, accompanied b}^ some of Montezuma's principal

people.

Before I left, I made some explanation telling him " to

look to the fact that he was a vassal of Your Highness, and

that now he would receive the favours from ^ ^

Cortes

Your Majesty for the services which he had Leaves
rendered to you; that I entrusted to him Mexico
those Spaniards, who would take care of all the *° ^®®*
gold and valuables which he had given me, or
ordered me to give Your Highness; that I was longing
to see the people who had arrived, and to learn who they
were, as I did not yet know, but that I believed they were
bad people and not vassals of Your Highness. He prom-
ised to provide those left behind with everything necessary
and to take great care of all I left there, belonging to Your
Majesty, and that his people w^ho went with me would
guide me by a road without quitting his country, and
would provide me with everything I needed. He prayed
me also, that, if these were bad people, to let him know,
and he would immediately raise many warriors to attack
them, and drive them out of the country. I thanked
him for all this, and assured him that Your Majesty
would order many favours to be shown him, and I gave
many jewels and stuffs to him, to his son, and to many
other lords who were with him at the time.

In the city, called Churultecal, I met, returning with
all his people, Juan Velasquez, the captain, whom, as I
have said, I had sent to Quacucalco. Separating those
who were indisposed, whom I sent to the city, I pursued
my road with him and the others. Fifteen leagues

278 Letters of Cortes

beyond the city of Churultccal, I encountered that re-
ligious father [Fray Olmedo] of my company, whom I
had sent to the port to learn what sort of people had come
in the armada. He brought me a letter from Narvaez,
in which the latter wrote me that he brought certain
powers to hold this country for Diego Velasquez, and that
I should immediately come to him to obey and submit
to them, and that he had established a town with al-
caldes and municipal officers. From the same religious,
I learned that the licentiate Ayllon, as well as his notary
and alguacil, had been taken, and sent away in two
ships; that he himself had been approached there by
parties, to win over some of my company to Narvaez ; and
how they had boasted before him, and certain Indians
who accompanied him, of their forces, both of foot
and cavalry, and had fired the artillery from the ships and
on land in order to frighten them, saying to the re-
ligious, "See! how can you defend yourselves against
us if you don't do as we wish you to do?" He told me
also that he had seen with Narvaez one of the native
lords of this country, vassal of the said Montezuma, and
governor of all his country along the coast ; and he learned
that he had spoken to Narvaez on the part of Montezuma,
giving him jewels of gold, and that Narvaez had also
given him certain trifles; and that Narvaez had sent
from there certain messengers to IMontezuma, saying,
that he would deliver him, for he had come to take me
and all my company, and then leave the country, and
that he wished no gold, but that, myself, and those who
were with me, once prisoners, he intended to depart,
and leave the country and the natives in their full liberty.
Finally I learned that his intention w^as to possess himself
of the country by his own authority, without asking
recognition from anyone; and that if I and those of my
company refused to accept him as captain, or justice
in the name of Diego Velasquez, he would come against

Second Letter 279

us, and capture us by force, and that for this purpose
he had confederated with the natives, especially with
Montezuma, by means of his messengers.

When I saw how manifest was the harm which would
result from the aforesaid proceedings against Your Ma-
jesty, especially as I was told of the great force he had
brought, and Diego Velasquez's mandate that, as soon
as he seized us, he should hang me, and others who were
designated, I did not hesitate to approach nearer to him,
believing that I might make him understand the great
disservice which would result to Your Highness, and
dissuade him from his evil intention and malicious dis-
position towards us.

I continued my way, and fifteen leagues before arriving
at the city of Cempoal, where Nar\^aez was camped, there
approached me the chaplain sent to me by the citizens
of Vera Cruz, by whom I had written to Narvaez, and
the licentiate Ayllon; he was accompanied by another
cleric, and a certain Andres de Duero, ^ householder of
the Island of Fernandina, who had also come with Nar-
vaez. They told me, on the part of Narvaez, in answer
to my letter, that I might still obey and recognise him as
my captain, and that I must yield the country to him,
otherwise I should be punished, as Narvaez brought great
forces with him, and I had very few, for besides the many
Spaniards he had brought, most of the natives were in
his favour; and that, if I would deliver the coimtry to him,
he would give me all the ships and provisions I desired,
and would allow me to go away with them, and all those
who wished to leave w4th me, taking everything I desired
without any hindrance from him. One of the clerics
told me that Diego Velasquez had authorised this offer,
and had given his instructions to Narvaez and the two
clerics jointly, so that, in this matter, they could make
all the concessions I wished. I answered, that I did not

> A secretary of Diego Velasquez.

2 8o Letters of Cortes

perceive any warrants of Your Highness, directing me
to deliver the country to them, and that if Narvaez
brought any he should present them before me and the
Municipal Council of Vera Cruz, according to Spanish
law and custom, when I would be ready to obey and
comply with them; but that, until then, I would not do
as he said for any interest or concession, for I, and those
who were with me, would rather die in defence of the
country, which we had won and held pacified and sure
for Your I\Iajesty, than turn traitors, or forfeit our loyalty
to our king. They advanced many other propositions
to win me over to their project, but none would I accept
without having seen the warrants of Your Highness
authorising me so to do ; and these they could not produce

In conclusion, these clerics, Andres de Duero, and my-
self, agreed that Narvaez and m3^self, with as many others,
Negotia- should meet with perfect surety on both sides,
tions with when he would satisfy me of the warrants if he
Narvaez ^^^^^ brought any, and I would give my answer.
I, on my part, sent him a safe conduct, signed, and he also
sent me another, signed with his name, which as it seemed
to me he had no thought of observing ; for he had planned
that, during the visit, some way or other should be found
to kill me suddenl}^, and two of the ten w^ho were to come
with him had been designated to do this, while the rest
were to fight with my attendants. They said, as a
reason for this, that, once I was dead, their business could
be finished ; and in truth it would have been, if God, who
in such cases intervenes, had not succoured me by a certain
warning, which one of those concerned in the treachery
had sent me together with their safe conduct.

Knowing all this, I wrote a letter to Narvaez, and
another to the three commissioners, telling them that I
had discovered their treacherous intention, and would
not go as had been agreed. I immediately sent them
certain requisitions and mandates, by which I required

Second Letter 281

Narvaez to make known to me any warrants he brought
from Your Highness, and that, until he had done so, he
should not, under certain penalties I imposed, call himself
captain or justice, or meddle with any duties pertaining
to the said offices. In like manner, by the same man-
date I commanded all the persons who were with him
not to regard nor obey him as captain or justice, and
summoned them, within a certain time designated, to
appear before me, that I might instruct them what was
proper to do in Your Highness 's service. I gave notice
that, if they did otherwise, I should proceed against them
as perfidious traitors and wicked vassals who had rebelled
against their king, and sought to usurp his country and
dominions, to deliver them to persons to whom they did
not belong, and who had no claim nor right to them;
and also in the execution of this order, that if they did
not appear before me, or obey my mandate, I would
proceed against them, and imprison them according to
the law, Narvaez's answer was to imprison the notary
who delivered the mandate, and the persons accompanying
him, and to take from them certain Indians who accom-
panied them, who were all detained till another messenger
arrived whom I sent to inquire after them. Before them
he made a display of force, and threatened them, and
also myself, if I did not deliver the country to him.

Seeing that I could by no means prevent this great
calamity and evil, and that the natives of the country
were revolting, and rising day by day, recommending
myself to God, and disregarding all injury that might
follow, considering that if I died in the senrice of my
king, and in the defence and upholding of his countries
against usurpation, more than sufficient glory would
cover me and my company, I gave my mandate to Gon-
zalo de Sandoval, alguacil mayor, to seize the persons of
Narv^aez, and those who called themselves alcaldes and
municipal officers. I placed eighty men under his orders,

282 Letters of Cortes

to make the arrest, while I, with the remaining hundred
and seventy (as in all we were two hundred and fifty
men), followed on foot, without artillery or horses, so as
to aid him if Narvaez and his companions should resist.
On the same day, the alguacil mayor and I, with the rest
of the people, arrived near the city of Cempoal, where
Narvaez and his people were quartered. He learned of
our coming, and came out, with eighty horsemen, and five
hundred foot-soldiers, leaving the rest of his force in his
quarters, which were in the great mosque of that strongly
fortified city. Having marched to within almost a league
of where we were, and not finding us, he believed he had
been deceived, so he returned to his quarters, holding
all his people in readiness, and placing two sentinels
almost a league outside the town.

As I wished to avoid all scandal, it seemed to me that
there would be less if I went by night, unperceived if
Cortes possible, directly to the quarters of Narvaez,
Defeats which I and my men knew very well, and
Narvaez there seized him. For, once he was a pris-
oner, no trouble w-ould arise, for the others wished
to submit to justice, especially as most of them
had been forced to come by Diego Velasquez, fear-
ing that, unless they did, he might take away their
slaves in the island of Fernandina. Thus it happened,
on the feast of Pentecost, a little after midnight, I at-
tacked the quarters. I had encountered the sentinels
Narv^aez had placed, and my vanguard captured one of
them, from w^hom I informed myself of their position,
but the other escaped; and in order that he should not
arrive before me and give notice of my coming, I hastened
as much as possible. The sentinel arrived, however,
almost half an hour before me, and, when I approached,
Narvaez and all his men were already armed, and had
saddled their horses, and were well prepared, with two
hundred men guarding each quarter. We moved so

Second Letter 283

quietly, that, when they heard us, and seized arms, I was
akeady inside the courtyard of his quarters, where all
the people were gathered. They had taken possession of
three or four strong towers which were in it, and all the
other strong positions; and in one of the towers, where
Narvaez was lodged, he had placed nineteen guns on the
stairs. We reached the top of the tower so quickly,
that they had not time to put fire to more than one of
the pieces, which by God's will did not go ofif, or do us
any harm. Thus we mounted the tower to the place
where Narvaez slept, where about fifty men who were
with him fought with the alguacil mayor and his force;
and although required many times to yield themselves
to Your Highness, surrendered only when fire was set to
the tower. While the alguacil mayor was capturing
Narvaez, I, with those who had stayed with me, defended
the entrance of the tower against the rest who sought
to come to his aid; and I ordered the artillery to be taken,
and fortified myself with it. Thus, with no more loss
than two men, who w^re killed by the discharge of a gun,
aU those we wished to take were made prisoners within
an hour. After the rest had been disarmed, they prom-
ised to be obedient to the laws of Your Majesty, declaring
that till then they had been deceived, as they had been
told that Nar\^aez brought warrants from Your Highness,
and that I had risen in rebellion in this country, and was
a traitor to Your Majesty, together with many other
similar things.

As all now understood the truth, and the bad inten-
tions and wicked disposition of Diego Velasquez and of
Narvaez came to light, they rejoiced very greatly that
God should have ordained and provided such an ending.
For I assure Your Majesty, that, if God had not mys-
teriously intervened, and had Narvaez been victorious
it would have been the greatest injury which for a long
time past Spaniards had done to one another.

284 Letters of Cortes

Narvaez would have fulfilled his intention, as Diego
Velasquez commanded him, which was to hang me, and
many others of my company, so that no one should re-
count what had happened. And, according to what I
learn from the Indians, they had perceived, that, if Nar-
vaez were to capture me, as he had told them, it could not
be without loss to himself and his people, nor without
many of us perishing; so that they meanwhile could kill
those whom I had left in Temixtitan, which, indeed, they
attempted to do. Afterwards they intended to join
forces, and attack those who remained here, and free
their country, so that not even a memory of the Spaniards
should survive. Your Highness may be assured that if
they had achieved all this, and succeeded in their designs,
this country, which has now been conquered and pacified,
would not have been recovered within twenty years.

As so many people could not be maintained together
in this city, both because of its being nearly destroyed,
and because it had been plundered by Narvaez, and
abandoned by its inhabitants, two days after Narvaez
had been taken prisoner, I sent two captains, with
two hundred men each, one to go to the town and
port of Cucicacalco, which as I have told Your High-
ness, I had founded, and the other to that river which
the people from Francisco de Garay's ships said they had
seen, for I now hold them securely. I likewise sent two
hundred other men to the city of Vera Cruz, where I
ordered Narv^aez's ships to go. I remained with the rest
of the people in Cempoal, to provide whatever Your
Majesty's service required. I also sent a messenger to
the city of Temixtitan, by whom I made known to the
Spaniards I left there what had happened to me.

These messengers returned within tw^elve days, bring-
ing me letters from the alcalde ^ there, telling me that the

' See Appendix VI., close of letter.

Second Letter 285

Indians had assaulted the fort on all sides, and set
fire to it in many parts; that they had sunk mines,
and that our people had been in much trouble jj^^^ ^^^
and danger; and that, if Montezuma did not the

order the war to cease, they would yet perish, Garrison
for they were closely surrounded, though there
was no fighting, and no one could go two paces outside
the fort. In the fight, the Indians had captured a great
part of the provisions I had left them, and had burned my
four brigantines. My men were in extreme need, and
begged me for the love of God to come to their succour in
all possible haste. Seeing the extremity in which these
Spaniards were, and that if I did not rescue them, besides
the Indians killing them, and taking all the gold, and
silver, and valuables, which I had obtained in the country,
belonging to Your Majesty and also to me and the
Spaniards, the noblest and greatest city recently dis-
covered in the world would be lost, and with it all else
that had been gained, for it was the capital to which all
gave obedience. I immediately sent messengers to the
captains whom I had sent off with expeditions, telling
them what had been written me from the capital, and
directing them to return immediately from wherever they
were found, and to come by the shortest route to the
province of Tlascaltecal, where I, with the people, and all
the artillery in my power, and the seventy horsemen,
would unite with them. When we joined forces, and
made a review, there were found to be seventy horsemen,
and five hundred foot soldiers.

I started in all haste with these troops for the capital,
and the whole length of the road there never appeared
anybody from Montezuma to receive me, as was cus-
tomary, and all the country had risen, and was almost
deserted, which aroused evil suspicions lest the Spaniards
whom I had left in the city were dead, and the natives
had gathered to await me at some pass, where they would

286 Letters of Cortes

take me at a disadvantage. Thus, fearful, I advanced
with the utmost precaution until I reached the city of
Tesnacan, ' which, as I have already recounted to Your
Majesty, is on the shore of that great lake. I inquired
of some of the natives there about the Spaniards who
had remained in the great city, and was told that they
were alive. I asked them to bring me a canoe, as I
wished to send a Spaniard to obtain information, and
said that while he was gone, one of the natives of the
said city, who seemed to be a chief, must remain with
me, because none of the lords and chiefs whom I knew
appeared. The chief sent for the canoe, and dispatched cer-
tain Indians with the Spaniards whom I was sending, while
he remained with me; but while this Spaniard was em-
barking to go to the city of Temixtitan, he saw another
canoe coming across the lake, and waited in port until
it arrived. In it came one of the Spaniards who had
remained in the city, from whom I learned that they
were all aliv^e, except five or six whom the Indians had
killed, and that the others were still besieged, and were
not allowed to come out of the fort, nor did the Indians
provide them with anything needful except on payment,
and at a heavy price. Afterwards, however, when they
heard of my coming, they had behaved somewhat better
towards them, Montezuma saying that he waited only
for my arrival, in order that they might again be free of
the city as they used to be. Montezuma also dispatched
a messenger to me wdth the said Spaniard, by whom he
sent me word that he believed I already knew what
had happened in that city, and that as he thought I
might be angry on account of it, and inclined to ven-
geance, he besought me to put aside my anger because he
was as much grieved as I, and that nothing had been done
by his wish or consent. He sent me news of many other

» Texcoco.

Second Letter 287

things, to appease the anger he supposed I felt for what
had happened, desiring me to come to the city and
saying that whatever I ordered would be complied with
no less than before. I sent him word to say that I was
not angry with him in any way, as his good will was well
known to me, and that I would do as he desired.

The next day, which was the eve of St. John Baptist, ^
I left, and slept on the road, three leagues from the
capital, and on St. John's Day, after having Cortes
heard Mass, I entered about noon, and saw Re-enters
few people about the city. Some of the gates Mexico
at the cross streets and entrances to the streets
had been removed, which I did not like, although
I thought that it had been done from fear, and that
my arrival would reassure them. I marched directly
to the fort, in which, and in the principal mosque ad-
joining, all my people were quartered; and those within
the fort received us with as much joy as if we had given
them anew their lives, which they had already looked
upon as lost, and we rejoiced all that day and night,
believing that peace had been restored.

The next day after Mass I sent a messenger to Vera
Cruz, to give them the good news that the Christians
were alive, and that I was safe in the city. The messen-
ger returned within half an hour, with his head all bruised
and broken, calling out that the Indians in the city were
in array of battle, and had raised all the bridges; and,
immediately after him, such a great multitude fell upon
us from all sides, that neither the roofs nor the houses
could be seen for the crowd, which came on with the
greatest shoutings, and most frightftil yells which could
be conceived in the world. With their slings, they threw
so many stones into the fortress, that it seemed as if they
rained from the heavens, while arrow^s and missiles were
so thick, that all the buildings and courts were so full

1 Day before St. John's Day, which fell on Sunday, June 23.

2S8 Letters of Cortes

of them we coukl hardly move about. I salHcd forth
against them on two or three sides, where they fought us
very valiantly, and in one place, where a captain had gone
out with two hundred men, they killed four, and wounded
him and many others, before he could retreat. On the
other side, where I was engaged, they wounded me, and
many other Spaniards. We killed few of them, for they
retreated to the other side of the bridges, and from
the roofs and terraces did us much injury with stones.
Some terraces we captured and set on fire; but they were
so many and so strong, and so filled with people, well
supplied with stones and other kinds of weapons, that we
were not strong enough to take them all, nor to defend
ourselves against their attack at their pleasure. They
attacked the fort so violently, and set fire to it in so
many places, that on one side a great part was destroyed
without our being able to prevent it, until we stopped it
by breaking the walls, and pulling dow^n a part which
put out the fire. Had it not been for the strong guard
of musketeers and archers with some field pieces I placed
there, they would have scaled that part without our being
able to resist them. Thus we fought all that day until
night was well advanced, and even throughout the night
they kept up their cries and yells. During the night, I had
those breaches caused by the fire repaired, and all the
rest of the fort which seemed weak to me; and I dis-
tributed the watch and the guards, for on the next day
we would have to fight stoutly; and I cared for more than
eighty wounded.

At dawn the folloudng day, the enemy opened the
battle more stoutly than the day before, there being
Death of such a number of them that the artillery
Montez\ima_ had no need to aim but just to shoot into the
mases of Indians. Although the artillery did much
damage, for thirteen arquebuses were playing, besides
muskets and archery which were also doing ser\-ice

Second Letter 289

it seemed as if they did not feel it, for when one
discharge would sweep away ten or twelve men, more
would immediately fill their places, as if it had done
no harm at all. Leaving the necessary guard, such
as could be spared, in the fort, I again made a sortie, and
captured some bridges, and burnt some houses, killing
many of the defenders; but they were so numerous that,
although we did them a good deal of damage, we made
very little impression on them. We had to fight all day
long, while they fought by hours, because they relieved
one another, and even thus they had more than enough
men. That day, they also wounded some fifty or sixty
Spaniards, although none of them died; and I fought
until nightfall, retiring only from sheer fatigue into the
fort. Seeing the great damage the enemy did us, and
how they wounded and killed us at will, and that, al-
though we did much injury amongst them, it was hardly
perceptible on account of their number, we spent that
whole night and the next day in making three engines
of wood, each accommodating twenty men, so that they
could not hurt us throwing stones from the roofs,
for the engines were covered with planks. Inside there
were archers and musketeers, and others armed with
pikes, pickaxes and bars of iron for making breaches in
the houses, and knocking down the barricades which the
Indians had made in the streets. While these machines
were being made, the combat with our adversaries did
not cease, for whenever we went out of the fort, they
would strive to enter, being repulsed only with great
difficulty, Montezuma, who with one of his sons and
many other chiefs who had been captured at the beginning,
was still a prisoner, asked to be carried to the roof of the
fort where he could speak to the captains and the people,
and cause the war to cease. I had him taken thither, and
when he reached the parapet on the top of the fort, in-
tending to speak to the people who were fighting there,

VOL. I. — ig

290 Letters of Cortes

one of his own subjects struck him on the head with a
stone, with such force that within three days he died. I then
had him taken out, dead as he was, by two of the Indian
prisoners, who bore him away to his people ; but I do not
know what they did with him, except that the war did
not cease, but went on more stoutly and more fiercely
every day. ^

That same day, they called me to the place where
they had wounded Montezuma, saying that certain
captains wished to speak to me. I went, and there
passed many arguments betw^een us, I beseeching them
not to fight with me because there was no reason for
it, as they must perceive the benefits they had received
from me, and how they had been well treated by me.
Their answer was that I must depart and leave them
their country, and then the w^ar would cease, and that
otherwise I might be sure that they would either die, or
finish us. It appears they did this to draw me out of the
fort, ''so that they might, at their pleasure, trap me between
the bridges, while in the act of leaving the city. I an-
swered that they must not think I begged for peace from
fear of them, but because I was grieved at the damage I
had done them and w^ould still have to do them ; and also
for the destruction of such a beautiful city. Still they
answered that they would not cease to make war upon
me until I left the city.

After having completed the engines, I sallied out
the next day to capture certain roofs and bridges, carrying
the engines before us, followed by four pieces of artillery,
many archers and shield bearers, and more than three
thousand natives of Tascaltecal w^ho had come with me
and helped the Spaniards. When we reached one of the
bridges, we placed the engines and scaling ladders against
the walls of the terraces, in order to scale them; but the
defenders of the said bridges and terraces were so nu-

» Appendix VII., death of Montezuma.

Second Letter 291

merous, and threw so many and such large stones at us
from above, that they injured the engines and killed some
of the Spaniards, and wounded many without our being
able to advance one pace, although we struggled for it,
fighting from morning till noon, when we returned to
the fort with infinite sorrow. Their courage was in-
creased so much by this, that they attacked us almost
at the very doors, and occupied the great temple; about
five hundred who appeared to me to be notable persons,
ascended the highest and principal tower, carrying up a
large supply of bread and water and other stores. Most
of them had very long lances with very broad points, all
longer and broader than ours, and not less sharpened^
and from there they did great injury to the people in the
fort, for they were very near it. Two or three times
the Spaniards attacked the tower and attempted to
mount it, but, as it was very high, and the ascent very
steep, being a hundred and odd steps, and those above
were well supplied with stones and other arms, and
favoured by the fact that we could not capture the
neighbouring teiTaces, every time the Spaniards at-
tempted to ascend they were rolled back beaten, and
many were wounded. Others of the enemy who saw this
from other parts took fresh courage, so that they attacked
the fort fiercely.

Observing that if they succeeded in holding that
tower, besides doing us much injury from it, they also
gained fresh courage to attack us, I sallied cortes

out from the fort, although my left hand was Captures
maimed by a wound which I had received ^^^ Great
on the first day. I advanced to the tower ^°*^^ *
with some Spaniards who followed me, and easily
succeeded in surrounding the base, although those who
surrounded it were not idle, as they had to fight the

> Obsidian, a hard black stone capable of taking an edge as keen as
a razor.

292 Letters of Cortes

adversaries on all sides, who, for the purpose of helping
their own men, came in increased numbers. And I
began to ascend the tower, followed by some Spaniards,
but they defended the ascent very stubbornly, throwing
down three or four of my followers. With the help of
God, and His Glorious Mother (for whose house that
tower had been set aside, her image being placed in it) ,
we reached the top, where we fought them so stoutly
that they were forced to jump down on some terraces
about a pace broad which extended round it. This tower
had three or four of these terraces about sixteen feet one
above the other. Some of the enemy fell all the way
down, and, in addition to the injuries they received in
the fall, were immediately killed by the Spaniards who
surrounded the base of the tower. Those who remained
on the terrace fought so valiantly, that we were more than
three hours in completely dispatching them ; and not one
escaped. Your Sacred Majesty may believe that we
captured this tower only because God had clipped their
wings; because twenty of them were sufficient to resist
the ascent of a thousand men even though they fought
very valiantly till death. I had the tower set on fire, as
well as others in the mosque, from which they had already
taken away and carried off the images we had placed in
them. ^

Some of their pride was taken out of them by our
obtaining this advantage, so that they fell back a little
on all sides, and I afterwards returned to the roof, and
spoke to the captains who had talked with me before, and
who were somewhat dismayed by what they had seen.
They immediately appeared, and I told them to look
about and see that they could not hold out anywhere,
and that every day we did them great harm and killed

> The cathedral of Mexico stands on this site, and the statue of
the Blessed Virgin which Cortes first placed in the Aztec temple" is said
to be the one now venerated in the Church of los Remedios near Tacuba.

Second Letter 293

many, and that we were forced to burn and destroy their
city, for I would not stop till there was nothing left of it
or them. They answered, that they saw very well that
they had sustained much damage from us, and that many
of them had perished, but that they were already all
fully determined to die, or be rid of us, and that I might
behold how all these streets and squares and terraces were
filled with people, who were so numerous that they had
made their calculations that, if twenty-five thousand
of them perished for every one of ours, they would finish
with us first, for we were few and they were many. They
told me all the high roads leading to the entrances to the
city had been destroyed (as, in fact, they had destroyed
all save one) , and that we had no way of escape save by
water; and that they knew very well that, as we had few
provisions and little fresh water, we could not hold out
much longer, for we would die by hunger, even if they
did not kill us. In truth they were right, for, though
we had no other enemy save starvation and the want of
provisions, these would suffice to kill us in a short time.
We exchanged many other arguments, each sustaining
his 0\vn side.

When night set in, I sallied forth with certain Spaniards,
and, as we took them by surprise, we captured a street
from them, burning more than three hundred houses. I
quickly returned by another street, while the people had
assembled in that one, in which I also burned many
houses; especially some terraces which overlooked the
fort, from which they did us much damage. They were
greatly frightened by what we had done that night; and
during the same night I ordered the engines, which had
been damaged the day before, to be repaired.

In order to follow up the victory God had given us,
I sallied forth at daybreak into the same street where we
had been routed the day before, where I found not less
resistance than on the former occasion. As our lives

294 Letters of Cortes

and honour were at stake, and that street led to the only
sound causeway extending to the mainland (though,
before reaching it, we had to pass by eight very large and
deep bridges, and in all the street there were many quite
high terraces and towers) we set our determination and
spirit in it, so that, God helping us, we gained four of them
that day, and burned all the terraces, and houses, and
towers, to the last of the bridges. They had, however,
during the night before, made a number of very strong
barricades of adobes and clay at all the bridges, so that
the discharges of arrows from the crossbows could do
them no harm. We filled in the bridges with the adobes
and earth from the enclosures, and with a quantity of
stones and wood from the houses we had burned, al-
though this work was not done without danger, and many
Spaniards were wounded. That night I took many
precautions to guard those bridges so that they might
not return and retake them.

The next morning I again sallied forth, and God gave
us likewise such good fortune and victory, although
innumerable people defended the bridges, and many
strong barricades which they had made during the night
before, yet we captured them all, and filled them up.
At the same time certain horsemen followed victoriously
in pursuit of the fugitives as far as the mainland. While
I was engaged in repairing the bridges, and in ha\'ing
them filled up, I was called in great haste, being told
that the Indians who attacked the fort were suing for
peace, and that certain chiefs and captains of them were
awaiting me. Leaving my people and certain field-
pieces there, I, with two or three horsemen, went to see
what the chiefs wanted. They said, that, if I would
assure them that they would not be punished for what
had occurred, they would raise the siege, re-establish the
bridges, restore the causeways, and serve Your Majesty
as they had before. They besought me to have brought

Second Letter 295

there one of their people, a reHgious whom I had made
a prisoner, and who was similar to a superior of their
religion. He came, and spoke with them, and made an
agreement between them and me; and, as it appeared,
and according to what they had said, they immediately
sent messengers to the captains and people who were in
outside camps, telling them that the attack on the fort
should cease, as well as all other hostilities. Thus we
took our leave and I entered the fort to eat.

When I was about to begin, some one came hastily, to
say that the Indians had regained the bridges which
we had captured that day, and had killed Narrow
some Spaniards. God only knows how much Escape of
disturbance this caused me, for I was think- Cortes

ing that we had assured a passage for our retreat.
I mounted my horse with all possible haste, and
rode through the length of the street, with some
other horsemen following me, and, without halting
anywhere, I again dashed through the Indians, and
recaptured the bridges, pursuing the enemy to the
mainland. As the foot soldiers were very tired, and
wounded, and dismayed, none of them followed me, and
this left me in a very dangerous situation after I had
passed the bridges. When I sought to return, I found
them retaken, and more deeply dug out than when we
had filled them up, and from one side to the other all the
causeway was full of people, not only on land, but also in
canoes on the water, who goaded us, and stoned us in
such a manner, that, if God had not interposed to save
us it would have been impossible to escape ; indeed it was
even already announced in the city that I was dead.
When I reached the last bridge nearest the city, I found
all the horsemen who had gone with me fallen in it, and
one horse loose, so that I could not pass, but was obliged
to return alone in face of my enemies. I forced something
of a passage, so that the horses passed, and after this, I

296 Letters of Cortes

found the bridge free, though I crossed with much trouble,
for I had to jump the horse from one side to the other,
almost six feet, but, as I and he were armoured, they did
us no serious hurt beyond slight body wounds. Thus
victory was theirs that night, for they had captured the
said four bridges.

Leaving a guard over the other four, I went to the
fort, and had a wooden bridge constructed which forty
men could carry, and, seeing our great danger, and the
great damage we daily received from the Indians, and
fearing also that they might destroy that causeway as
they had the others, when we would all inevitably perish,
and because many of my company entreated me many
times to depart, and because all, or nearly all, were
wounded so badly that they could no longer fight, I
determined to leave that same night. I collected in
a room all the gold and jewels belonging to Your
Majesty that could be carried, and I delivered it in
parcels to the officials of Your Highness, whom I
designated in your royal name, beseeching and re-
quiring the alcaldes, and municipal authorities, and all
the people who were there, to help me take it away. I
gave one of my mares for this purpose, on which they
loaded as much as she could cany ; and I designated certain
Spaniards, not only from my servants, but also of the
others, to accompany the said gold and mare, and the
rest of the officials, alcaldes, municipal officers, and
myself, gave and distributed the remainder to the
Spaniards to carry away.

Having abandoned the fort, and much treasure, be-
longing not only to Your Highness, but also to the
The Spaniards and myself, I set forth as secretly

Sorrowful as possible, taking with me a son and two
^^s^^ daughters of Montezuma, Cacamazin, the

lord of Aculuacan, and another of his brothers, whom
I had put in his place, and some other chiefs of

Second Letter 297

of the provinces and cities whom I held as prisoners.
When we reached the bridges which the Indians had
removed we laid down the bridge which I carried with little
trouble at the first crossing, for there was none to offer
resistance save certain watchmen who shouted so loudly,
that, before we came to the second, an infinite multitude
of the enemy had risen against us, battling on every side
both on water and land. I crossed rapidly with five
horsemen and five hundred foot-soldiers, with whom
I passed all the other broken bridges swimming until
I reached the mainland. Leaving those people there, I
returned to the others and found that they were fighting
stoutly; but the injury our people received was beyond
calculation, not only the Spaniards, but also the Tas-
caltecas who were with us, being nearly all killed.
Though the Spaniards killed many natives, many of the
Spaniards and horses were killed, likewise, and all the
gold, and jewels, and many other things which we carried,
and all the artillery, were lost.

When the survivors were collected, I pushed them on
ahead, while I, with three or four horsemen and about
twenty foot-soldiers who ventured to remain with me, took
the rear-guard, fighting the Indians until we arrived at
a city, called Tacuba, at the end of that causeway. God
only knows how much trouble and danger I endured,
because every time I faced about against our adversaries,
I came back full of arrows, and darts, and stones, for as
there was water on both sides, they could assail us with
impunity and fearlessly. When we attacked those on
land they would leap into the water, thus receiving very
little hurt, except that some who in the skirmish
interfered with each other and feU, were killed. With
great trouble and fatigue, I conducted my remaining
people to the city of Tacuba without being killed myself,
nor having any Spaniard or Indian wounded, except one
horseman who had gone with me to the rear. Those who

298 Letters of Cortes

went in the vanguard did not have less fighting than those
on the flanks, although the strongest force was the one
at our backs where the people of the city pursued us7|

When I reached the city of Tacuba, I found all the
peojile in a panic in the square, not knowing where to
go, so I made great haste to get them out into the country,
before more of the inhabitants should gather in the said
city and capture the roofs, from which they could do us
great injury. The vanguard said they did not know the
way, so I sent them to the rear, and took the lead myself
until we had got clear of the city, where I awaited them
at some farms. When the rear-guard came up, I learned
that they had sustained some injury, and that some of
the Spaniards and Indians had been killed, and that
much gold had been lost and left on the road, where the
Indians gathered it up. I held the Indians in check there
until all the people had passed on, so that the foot-soldiers
might take the hill, on which there stood a strong tower
and buildings. These they captured without sustaining
any injury, for I did not leave my place, nor allow the
enemy to advance, until they had secured the hill. God
only knows the trouble and fatigue we sustained, for no
horse of the twenty-four was left which could still run,
nor any horseman who could raise his arms, nor a sound
foot-soldier who could move. When we reached the
buildings, we fortified ourselves in them, and the enemy
surrounded us and besieged us until night, not leaving us
an hour's rest. We found that over one hundred and
fifty Spaniards were killed in this fight, forty-five mares
and horses, and more than two thousand of the Indians
who had aided the Spaniards; amongst the latter, they
killed the son and daughters of Montezuma, and all the
other chiefs w^hom we carried prisoners.

At midnight, believing we were not observ^ed, we left
the said lodgings very silently, leaving many fires burning
in it, not knowing any road, nor where we were going.

Second Letter 299

except that an Indian of Tascaltecal told us he would
guide us to his country if they did not stop us on the
way. There were some watchmen very near who heard
us, and alarmed many towns round about, from which
numbers of people gathered and pursued us until day-
break. At that time five horsemen who rode ahead as
scouts met some bands of people along the road, and
killed some of them ; these were routed under the belief that
more horsemen and foot-soldiers were coming up. When
I saw that our enemies were gathering from all sides, I got
into order our people who were still fit for service, making
squadrons, and placing them in the vanguard, rear-guard,
and on the flanks, with the wounded in the centre, and
I likewise distributed the horsemen. Thus we continued
all that day, fighting on all sides, so that during the whole
night and day we did not advance more than three leagues.
When night came on Our Lord was pleased to show us
a tower and good lodging place on a hill, where we again
fortified ourselves, and during that night they left us
in peace, although at dawn we had some disturbance
from a false alarm caused by our own fears of the
multitude which kept coming in pursuit of us.

The next morning, one hour after daybreak, I departed
in the order already mentioned, taking my vanguard
and rear-guard in good order; and on all sides we were
followed by the enemy, yelling, and raising the whole
country, which is thickly populated. The horsemen, al-
though we were few attacked them, but did little harm
amongst them, because, the ground being rough, they
would retreat to the hills. In this manner, we marched
that day along some lakes, ^ till we reached a populous
town, where we thought to have some skirmish with the
townspeople. When we arrived there, they abandoned it,
and went to some other towns thereabouts in the neigh-
bourhood. I rested there that day and the next, not only

1 The lakes of Zumpango, Xaltocan, and San Cristobal.

300 Letters of Cortes

because both the wounded and the sound ones of my
people were very weary and exhausted with hunger and
thirst, and the horses hkewise W'ere well tired out, but
also because we found there some maize which we ate and
carried away with us on the road, boiled and roasted.
We left the next day, always pursued by our adver-
saries, who attacked us on the vanguard and rear-guard
with many yells. We continued our march, guided by
the Indian of Tascaltecal, during which we suffered much
trouble and fatigue, for many times we lost our way.
When it was already late, we reached a plain, where there
were some small houses in which we lodged that night,
sufifering great want of food.

Early next morning w^e began our march, and, before
we reached the road, our enemies still followed our rear-
guard. Constantly skirmishing with them, we arrived
at a large town, two leagues distant, where there were
some Indians stationed on the top of a small hill to the
right. Believing that we might capture them, as they
were near the road, and also discover if there were just
behind the hill, any more than those who were visible,
I started round the said hill with five horsemen and twelve
foot-soldiers, and behind it there was a great city^ of
many people with whom w^e engaged fiercely. On account
of the rocky country, and the great number of their people,
and our small numbers, we had to retire to the town
where our people were. I came out of this, very badly

' Otumba. Prescott observes that even Bernal Diaz, who was some-
what sceptical on other occasions, admits the apparition of St. James
mounted on a white charger at Otumba. Voltaire comments as follows:
" Ceux qui ont fait des revelations de ces itranges evenemens les ont voulu
relever par des miracles qui ne servent en effet qu'a les rabaisser. Le vrai
miracle fUt la coruiuite de Cortez." Possibly, but it is by the faith which
we were promised should move mountains that such heroic deeds are
accomplished, and the material apparition required to satisfy a Voltaire
would be but a poor thing compared to the reality of the Spanish con-
queror's faith in the presence and guidance of his patron saints. As
well doubt the Pucelle's belief in her " Voices. '.'

Second Letter 301

wounded in the head by two sling stones, and after bind-
ing up the wounds I made the Spaniards leave the town,
because it did not seem to me a safe camp for us ; and we
marched thus with great numbers of Indians pursuing
us, fighting so stoutly that they woimded four or five
Spaniards and as many horses. They killed us a horse,
also, and God only knows how great was its value to us,
and what pain we suffered at its death, because, after
God, our only security was the horses; but we consoled
ourselves with its meat, and ate it without leaving even
the skin, so great was our want; for, since leaving the
capital, we had nothing to eat but roasted and boiled
corn, and not always enough of that, and, in addition,
some herbs which we gathered in the country.

Seeing that the enemy increased every day, and grew
stronger, and that we were becoming weaker, that
night I ordered the wounded and sick, whom The Battle
we carried behind us on our ihorses, to pro- o^ Otumba
vide themselves with crutches and other contriv-
ances for supporting themselves, so that the horses
and sound Spaniards would be free to fight. From
what happened to us the next day, it seemed that
the Holy Ghost had inspired me with this thought,
for, after we had left this camp in the morning, and
marched about a league and a half, so great a multitude
of Indians came out to encounter me, that all about us
we could not see the ground, so completely was it covered
by them. They attacked us on all sides so violently that
we could not distinguish each other, for being so pressed
and entangled with them. Certainly we believed that
to be our last day, so great was the force of the Indians
and so feeble the resistance they encountered in us; for
we were already exhausted, and almost all of us wounded
and fainting from hunger. But Our Lord was pleased
to show His great power and mercy to us, for, with all
our weakness, we broke their great pride and haughtiness,

302 Letters of Cortes

in that many of their prominent and important persons
perished, for they were so many that they hindered one
another, and were unable either to fight or to fly. We
spent a great part of the day in this struggle, until it
pleased God that one of those persons, who must have
been an important chief, fell, for with his death all the
battle ceased. After this, we continued our way more
easily, although some of them still harassed us until we
reached a small house in the plain, where we lodged that
night and on the open ground. From there we first
descried certain mountains of the province of Tascaltecal,
at which not a little joy filled our hearts, because we
recognised the country, and knew our way, although we
were not quite positive of finding the natives faithful and
friendly; for we feared that, seeing us so reduced, they
might w4sh to put an end to our lives, in order to recover
the liberty which they had formerly enjoyed. This
thought and suspicion cast us into an affliction which
equalled that which we felt whilst fighting with the
Culuans.

The next morning at daybreak, we began to march
by a very level road which led directly to the said province
of Tascaltecal upon which only a few of our adversaries
followed, although very near were many large towns;
from some hills in our rear, though, from a distance, they
still continued yelling at us. On this day, which was
Sunday, July 8th, we left all the country of Culua, and
entered the province of Tascaltecal, at a village of some
three or four thousand households, called Gualipan, ^
where the natives received us very well, and somewhat
relieved our great hunger and weariness, although for
much of the provision which they gave us they asked
payment, and would only accept gold. This we were
obliged in our great necessity to give.

We remained three days in this town, and Magiscatzin,

> Hueyothlipan.

Second Letter 303

and Sicutengal, and all the chiefs of the said province
and some of those of Quasucingo, came to see and speak
to me, showing much grief for what had happened to us,
and endeavouring to console me, reminding me that they
had often told me that the Culuans were' traitors against
whom I should be on my guard, but that I would not
believe it. Inasmuch as I had escaped alive, they said
I ought to rejoice, for they would aid me until death to
obtain satisfaction for the injury the Culuans had done
me. They added that they felt obliged to do this as
vassals of Your Highness, besides which they also suffered
because of the many sons and brothers who had perished
in my company, and on account of other injuries which
in past times they had recei\ed, so I might be sure they
would be my true and steadfast friends until death. As
I now came wounded and almost all of my company
exliausted, they wanted us to go into the city, four
leagues from this town, where w^e might rest, and they
would care for us and restore us. I was very grateful to
them, and accepted their invitation, and gave them some
few things from the valuables which had escaped, at which
they were well contented; and I went w4th them to the
said city, where I likewise had a good reception. Magis-
catzin brought me a bedstead of finely finished wood, with
some bed-clothing, such as they used, for me to sleep in,
for we brought none; and he helped everybody with all
that he had and could.

When I quit this city for Temixtitan, I had left here
certain sick persons and some of my servants w4th silver
and wearing apparel belonging to me, and certain other
household things and provisions, in order to march
forward unencumbered lest anything should happen
to us, and all the documents and agreements which I had
made with the natives of these parts should be lost. All
the clothing of the Spaniards who came with me had
likewise been left, as they only took away what they wore,

304 Letters of Cortes

and their bedding. I learned that another servant of
mine had come from Vera Cruz, bringing provisions and
things for me. He had been accompanied by horse-
men and forty-five foot-soldiers, and had likewise taken
with him the others whom I had left there. He carried
all the silver and clothing, my own as well as that of my
companions, with seven thousand dollars of melted gold,
which I had left there in two chests, without counting
other valuables, and other fourteen thousand dollars of
gold in pieces, which had been given, in the province of
Tuchitepeque, to that captain whom I had sent to build
the town of Quacucalco. He carried also many other
things which were worth more than thirty thousand
dollars of gold. This I learned, and also that the Indians
of Culua had killed them all on the road, and taken their
treasure. I likewise learned that they had killed, on the
roads, many other Spaniards who were coming to the
city of Temixtitan, believing that I was there at peace,
and that the roads w^ere as secure as I had before held
them. I assure Your Majesty that all of us were plunged
into such sadness by this news that it could hardly have
been worse, because the loss of these Spaniards and the
treasure recalled the deaths and losses of the Spaniards
who had been killed in the city, at the bridges, and on
the road; and especially as it roused much suspicion in
me that, in like manner, the people of Vera Cruz might
have been attacked, and that those whom we considered
our friends might have rebelled, upon hearing of our defeat.
To learn the truth, I immediately dispatched messengers
accompanied by Indians to guide them, whom I ordered
to avoid the high road until they arrived at Vera Cruz, and
to let me know promptly what had happened there. It
pleased Our Lord that they should find the Spaniards very
weU, and the natives perfectly faithful. It was a great
relief to learn this after our losses and griefs, though it was
very bad news for them to hear of our disaster and rout.

Second Letter 305

I remained twenty days in this province of Tascaltecal,
healing my wounds which with the poor care on the
road had become much worse, especially the Events in
wound on my head; and I also had all the Tlascala
wounded of my company cared for. Some of them
died, not only from their wounds, but also on ac-
count of our past troubles; others remained maimed
in their arms, and others lame in their legs, for their
wounds were very bad, and for curing them there was
very little means. I myself lost two fingers of my left
hand.

Seeing that many of ours were dead, and that those
who survived were wounded, and disheartened by the
dangers and troubles through which they had passed, and
fearing others still ahead, my men entreated me many
times to go to Vera Cruz; for there we could fortify our-
selves before those natives, whom we still considered our
friends, seeing our rout and diminished numbers, could
join with our enemies, and, taking the passes over which
we had to cross, attack us on the one side, and our people
at Vera Cruz on the other. Being there together, and
having ships we would be stronger and better able to
defend ourselves, in case they should attack before we
summoned aid from the Islands. I, however, remembered
that Fortune is always on the side of the daring, and that
we were Christians, confiding in the very great mercy
of God, who would never permit us to perish; and I con-
sidered that to show so little courage before the natives,
especially our friends, might cause them to abandon us
the sooner, and turn against us ; that this great and noble
country, at peace and on the point of being secured
under Your Majesty, would be lost. The war must be
continued, to bring about the pacification of this country
as it was before, and I determined on no account to go
to the sea-port, but rather, disregarding all difficulty and
danger which might ofler, I said that I would not abandon

TOL. I.

3o6 Letters of Cortes

this country; for besides its being disgraceful to me and
very dangerous to all, we would act treasonably towards
Your Majesty, and I was determined to return against
the enemy from all possible points, and to take the
offensive against them in every way I could.

After stopping twenty days in this province, although
I was not yet well of my wounds, and those of my com-
Expedition P^ny were still somewhat weak, I left for
to another, called Tepeaca, which belonged to

Tepeaca ^j^g league and confederation of Culua, our
enemy. I had been informed that the inhabitants
there had killed ten or twelve Spaniards who were
on their way by the road which passes there, from
Vera Cruz to the capital. The said province of Tepeaca
borders with those of Tascaltecal and Churultecal,
for it is very large. As we were entering that province,
many natives came out to attack us, defending the road, as
best they could, by fortifying themselves in strong
and dangerous positions. To avoid prolixity, I do not
give an account of all the particulars of this war ; I will
only say that, after the requirements had been made on
the part of Your Majesty, that they should make peace,
and they had refused to submit, we fought with them
several times; and, with the help of God, and the royal
good fortune of Your Highness, we always scattered
them, and killed many, without their killing one of us
in the whole course of the said war, or wounding one
solitary Spaniard. Although, as I have said, this prov-
ince is very large, I pacified many cities and provinces
subject to it in about twenty da^^s, and the lords and
chiefs of it came and offered themselves as vassals to
Yoiir Majesty. Moreover I expelled rmany Culuans,
who had come to this province to help the natives in
making war upon us, and to hinder them by fair means
or foul from becoming our friends. Thus I had to busy
myself up till now in this matter which is not yet alto-

Second Letter 307

gether finished, for there are still some cities and towns
to be pacified, which by the help of Our Lord will shortly
be, like these others, subject to the royal dominion of
Your Majesty.

In a certain part of this province, where they killed
those ten Spaniards, the natives were always very active
in the war, and v^ery rebellious, and had to be reduced
by force of arms. I made a number slaves, of whom I
gave a fifth part to the officials of Your Majesty. I did
this especially as, in addition to their having killed the
said Spaniards, and rebelled against the service of Your
Highness, they eat human flesh, a fact. so notorious that
I do not send proofs of it to Your Majesty. I was also
moved to make the said slaves in order to strike terror
into the Culuans, and also because there are many who
will never mend themselves until great and severe punish-
ment is inflicted upon them. We entered upon this war
with the aid of the natives of Tascaltecal, and Churultecal,
and Quasucingo, by which our friendship has been well
confirmed; and we are convinced that they will always
serve Your Highness as loyal vassals.

While conducting this war in the province of Tepeaca,
I received letters from Vera Cruz, telling me that two ships
had arrived in that port, belonging to Francisco de Garay
who it appears had again sent more people to that great
river which I described to Your Highness, and that the na-
tives there had fought with them, kilHng seventeen or eigh-
teen Christians, and wounding many others. They had
Hkewise killed seven horses, and the remaining Spaniards
who returned to the ships had escaped by their good legs.
The captains and all of them had arrived very much
shattered and wounded, and my lieutenant had received
them very kindly and taken care of them. That they
might convalesce the better, he had sent some of the
said Spaniards to the country of a friendly chief near
there, where they were well attended to and provided

3o8 Letters of Cortes

for. All this grieved su as much as our own past troubles,
but perchance this rout would not have happened to
them if they had united with me at first, as I have al-
ready recounted to Your Highness; for I was then well
infonned about everything in these parts, and they would
have had such advice from me that what had happened
could not have occurred, especially as the lord of that
ri\ er and country, called Panuco, had given himself as a
vassal to Your ^lajesty. In recognition of his allegiance
he had sent me certain gifts by his messenger to the city
of Temixtitan, as I have already stated. I have written
to Vera Cruz, that if the captain of Francisco de Garay de-
sires to leave, to lend him assistance, and help him to
dispatch his ships.

After having pacified and subjugated to the royal ser-
vice of Your Highness all of this province which has been
P^^^^ J pacified. Your Majesty's officials and I con-
Segura ferred many times respecting the measures
de la to be taken for its security. Seeing that

rontera ^j^^ natives had first given themselves as vassals
of Your Highness, and then rebelled and killed the
Spaniards, and that they were on the road and pass
where the traffic of all the sea-ports had to pass tow^ards
the interior, we considered that, if it were left to itself
as before, the natives of this country, and also of Culua
who were very near, would again try to seduce them
into rebellion, from which would follow much harm and
impediment to the pacification of these parts, and to
the service of Your Highness; and the said traffic would
cease, especially as on the road to the coast there are two
very steep and rough passes, which confine with the said
province, where the natives could defend themselves
with little difficulty. For this, as well as for other reasons
and weighty causes, it seemed to us that, to prevent the
aforesaid evils, a town should be founded in the best part
of the said province of Tepeaca, where the necessary con-

Second Letter 309

ditions could be found for the colonists. And for the pur-
pose of carrying this out, I, in the name of Your Majesty,
gave the said town the name of Segura de la Frontera, ^
and I named alcaldes and municipal and other officers
as is customary; and, for the better security of the house-
holders of this town, materials are being brought to build
a fort on the place I designated ; as materials hereabouts
are of good quality, all possible haste shall be employed.
While writing this account, messengers came to me
from the chief of the city, called Guacachula, 2 about five
leagues from this province, and situated at the entrance of
a pass leading to the province of Mexico. They told me,
on behalf of the said chief, that several days before they
had intended to come to me to tender the obedience they
owed to Your Majesty, as your vassals, and I must not
consider them culpable, believing their failure to do so
was voluntary. They told me that some captains of
Culua were lodged in their city, and that in it and about
a league distant were thirty thousand men in garrison,
guarding that pass, to prevent our crossing it, and also
to prevent the natives of their city and other neighbouring
provinces from serving Your Majesty, and becoming
our friends; and they said they would have come to offer
themselves to Your Royal service, had those men not
prevented them. They let me know this that I might
remedy it, because, besides the obstruction it was to those
who were well disposed, the people of the city and neigh-
bourhood suffered much injury, as they were taxed and
ill-treated by the many armed warriors who took their
women and chattels. If I would help them, they said
they would obey any orders I gave them.

1 The city was founded early in September, 1520, on the hillside,
in a position both strategically and commercially advantageous;
fortifications were built and strict laws against gambling, blaspheming,
etc., were enacted. The present town is called Tepeaca, and stands on
the plain.

2 Huaquechula: another republic: also spelled Guaquechula.

3IO Letters of Cortes

After thanking them for their information and offer, I
immediately gave them thirteen horsemen, two hundred
foot-soldiers, and some thirty thousand Indian allies,
toj accompany them. * It was agreed that they shoiild
lead them by roads where they would not be seen, and,
when they approached near the city, its chiefs, and
inhabitants, and other vassals and confederates, should
be notified, and should sun^ound the quarters where the
captains were, to capture and kill them before their men
could help them, so that, when the latter did appear,
the Spaniards would already be in the city waiting to
fight and rout them. They and the Spaniards marched
by the city of Churultecal and through some parts of the
province of Quasucingo, which borders on the territory
of Guacachula within four leagues of it; and, in a town
of the said province of Quasucingo, it is said that they
told the Spaniards that the natives of that province were
leagued with the Guacachulans and Culuans to entice the
Spaniards with this project to the said city, where they
could kill them. As the fright, with which the Culuans
in their city and country had inspired them, had not yet
altogether abated, this information alarmed the Span-
iards ; and the captain whom I had sent with them made
an investigation, and took prisoner all those chiefs of
Quasucingo who were with them, and the messengers from
the city of Guacachula, and returned with them to the
city of Churultecal, four leagues from there. Thence,
together with the proofs he had obtained, he sent to me
all the prisoners, attended by horsemen and foot-soldiers.
The captain also wrote me that our people were frightened
because the enterprise seemed very difficult. On the
arrival of the prisoners I spoke to them by my interpreter,
and, having used all diligence to learn the truth, it ap-
peared that the captain had misjudged them so I im-

* Diego de Ordaz and Alonso de Avila were in charge of this
expedition which took the road by Cholula.

Second Letter 311

mediately set them free and satisfied them, protesting
that T believed them loyal vassals of Your Sacred Ma-
jesty, and that I would go myself to destroy the Culuans.
To avoid showing any timidity or hesitancy to the na-
tives, both friends and enemies, it seemed that I ought not
to abandon the proposed expedition. To relieve the fears
of some of the Spaniards, I determined to suspend other
business, and the dispatch for Your Majesty which I was
writing, and thus I set out that same hour with all possi-
ble haste, arriving the same day at the city of Churultecal
(which is eight leagues from this city) where I found
the Spaniards, who still affirmed their conviction of the
treachery.

The next day, I slept in the town of Quasucingo,
where the chiefs had been arrested. Having agreed
with the messengers of Guacachula as to where Capture of
and how we should enter their city, I started Guacachula
the next day, one hour before daybreak, arriving
near it about ten o'clock in the morning. About
half a league distant from it, certain messengers of
the city met me on the road to tell me that every-
thing was well planned and ready, and that the Culuans
knew nothing of our coming, because the natives of the
said city had captured certain of their spies, who were
on the road, and also some others whom the Culuan
captains had stationed on the walls and towers of the
city to overlook the country. All our adversaries were
thus off their guard, believing they were protected by
their watchmen and spies; hence I might advance un-
discovered. I therefore made haste to reach the city
unseen, for we were marching over a plain where we might
easily be observed.

It appeared that as soon as the townspeople perceived
us, and saw how near we were, they immediately sur-
rounded the quarters of the captains, and began to
attack the others scattered throughout the city. When

312 Letters of Cortes

I arrived within a bow shot of the city, as many as forty
prisoners were brought to me, and I made the more
haste to enter. There was a great uproar in all the
streets of the city. Fighting with the adversaries, and
guided by the inhabitants, I reached the captains'
quarters which I found surrounded by more than three
thousand men striving to enter the gate. They had
taken possession of the upper stories and terraces, but
the captains fought so well and so steadily that they could
not force an entrance; although the Culuans were few,
they fought like valiant men, and besides the building
was strong. When I arrived, we entered with so many
natives that it was impossible to prevent the defenders
being killed forthwith; for I wished to take some alive,
in order to get information about matters in the capital,
and to learn who was sovereign after the death of Mon-
tezuma, and about other things. I could only rescue
one more dead than alive, who informed me as I shall
relate hereafter. They killed many w^ho were quartered
in the city, and the survivors, learning of my coming,
began to fly towards the garrison, but many of them
were likewise killed in the pursuit. This tumult was
so quickly heard and understood by the men of the
garrison, who were on a certain elevation, commanding
the city and the surrounding plain, that those who were
escaping from the city encountered the others who were
coming to its relief to see what had happened. The latter
were altogether more than thirty thousand men, and the
most brilliant troops we had yet seen, for they wore many
ornaments of gold, and silv^er, and feathers, and, as the
city was large, they began to set fire to it in the quarter
where they entered. This became quickly known to the
inhabitants, and I sallied forth with only horsemen,
for the foot-soldiers were already very tired. We broke
through the enemy, who retreated to a position which we
took from them, following them up and overtaking many

Second Letter 313

of them on a very rough slope, so that when we gained
the top neither the enemy nor ourselves were able to
advance or retreat. Many fell dead, without a wound,
stifled by the heat, and two horses were exhausted, one
of which died. We did much damage, for many of our
Indian allies came up, and, as they arrived fresh and the
adversaries were almost dead, they killed many, so that
in a very short time the field was cleared of the living, and
covered with the dead. We reached the barracks and huts
which they had recently made in the field, and which
were in three divisions each of which appeared like a
good-sized village. In addition to their warriors, they
had a great display of servants, and provisions, and camp
supplies, there having been, as I learned afterwards,
some notable persons in it. All was despoiled and burned
by our Indian friends, who, I assure Your Majesty, had
gathered to the number of one hundred thousand men.
Having by this victory expelled all the enemy from the
country, and driven them beyond some bridges and
narrow passes, we returned to the city, where we were
well received, and quartered by the inhabitants; and
we rested in that city three days, being in great need of
repose.

At this time, the natives of a large city, called Ocupa-
tuyo (which is on the top of these sierras, two leagues
from the enemy's camp, and also at the foot of the
mountain chain, where I said the smoke comes out), came
to offer themselves to the service of Your Majesty. They
said that their chief had gone away with the Culuans
when we pursued them, believing that we would not stop
before reaching his city, but that they had desired my
friendship for many days, wishing to come and offer
themselves as vassals of Your Majesty, although their
chief would not allow it nor consent to it, in spite of their
having entreated his permission. They said that now
they wished to serve Your Highness, and that the brother

314 Letters of Cortes

of the said chief, who had shared their opinion and in-
tentions was hkcwise still of the same mind. They
prayed me that I would approve his succession to the
lordship, and that although the other might return, I
would not consent to his being received as their chief;
if so neither would they receive him. I told them that,
as they had been of the league and confederation of
Culua, and had rebelled against the service of Your
Majesty, they deserved severe punishment, and that I
had thought to execute it upon their persons and prop-
erty ; but, inasmuch as they had come, saying their chief
was the cause of their rebelHon and uprising, I, in the
name of Your Majesty, pardoned their past error, and
received and admitted them to Your Royal service. I
w^arned them that if they committed a similar error again
they would be punished and chastised, but if they proved
loyal v^assals of Your Royal Highness, I would favour
and help them in Your Royal name ; and they promised
to do this.

This city of Guacachula is situated in a plain, bounded
on one side by very high and rugged hills, and on the
Fortifica- Other by two rivers about two bow shots
tionsof apart, each of which flows through very deep
Guacachula g^^d large ravines. There are, consequently,
very few entrances to the city, and those which
exist are so rough to ascend and descend, that it can
hardly be accomplished on horseback. The entire
I city is surrounded by a very strong w^all of stone and
mortar, the outside being about twenty feet high, while
from the inside it is about on the same level with the
ground. There is a battlement along the wall three feet
high, to protect them in fighting, and they have tour
entrances, broad enough for a man to enter on horseback.
At each of these entrances, there are three or four ctu-ves
in the wall, doubhng one over the other, and above these
turnings there is also a battlement on the walls, from

Second Letter 315

which they can fight. They keep a great quantity of all
sorts of large and small stones all along this wall which
they use in fighting. This city may have some five or
six thousand households, and in the surrounding hamlets
subject to them as many others or more. It is very ex-
tensive, and within the city are many gardens of fruits
and aromatic herbs, as is their custom.

After resting three days in this said city, we went to
another, called Izzucan, four leagues distant from Gua-
cachula, because I was informed that there were many
Culuans in garrison there also, and that the people of
the said city, and of other towns and places dependent
on them, were, and showed themselves to be, very partial
to the Culuans because their chief was a blood relation
of Montezuma. So many of the natives, vassals of Your
Majesty, accompanied me that they almost covered the
coiintry and the mountains as far as we could see, and in
truth there were more than one hundred and twenty
thousand men ; and we arrived at the said town of Izzunca
at ten o'clock, finding it deserted by women and young
people, but there were about five or six thousand well-
armed warriors in it. When the Spaniards appeared
before it, they attempted some defence of their city, but
they shortly abandoned it, because from the side to which
we were guided for entering we found a practical entrance.
We pursued them through the city, forcing them to jump
over the crenellated top of the wall into a river which
surrounds it on the other side, whose bridges being
destroyed we were somewhat delayed in crossing it; and
we followed in pursuit of them about a league and a half,
in which distance I believe few escaped. Returning to
the city, I sent two of its natives who had been taken
prisoner to speak to the principal persons of the city,
for the chief of it had also gone with the Culuans of the
garrison, so as to induce them to return to their city;
and I promised them in the name of Your Majesty that,

3i6 Letters of Cortes

being loyal vassals of Your Highness from henceforth,
they would be well treated by me, and their rebellion
and past error forgiven. These natives left, and three
days later some of the principal persons came and asked
pardon for their error, saying that they could not have
acted otherwise, because they had done what their chief
commanded them, but that they promised from hence-
forth, inasmuch as their chief had gone and left them,
to serve Your Majesty well and loyally. I reassured
them, telling them to return to their homes, and to bring
back their wives and children who were in other places
and towns of their allies ; and I told them Hkewise to tell
the inhabitants of those towns to come to me and I would
pardon them the past, for they would not like that I should
be obliged to come to them, as then they would sustain
much damage, which would greatly grieve me. Thus it
was done, and within two days that city of Izzucan was
again populated; and its dependencies came to offer
themselves as vassals of Your Highness, and all that
province remained very secure, and, with those of
Guacachula, our friends and allies.

A certain difference arose as to whom the province
of this city of Izzucan belonged in the absence of the
Disputed ^hief who had gone to Mexico. The former
Succession rightful chief of this province had been put
at Izzucan ^q death by Montezuma, who, in his place
put the present mler, whom he had married to
one of his own nieces; and a dispute had arisen
as to the right of succession between a bastard son
of the murdered chief and the son of his legitimate
daughter, who had married the chief of Guacachula. It
was agreed amongst them, that the lordship should
be inherited by that son of the chief of Guacachula who
descended by the legitimate line from the old chief,
for, although the other was a son, he could not inherit

Second Letter 317

my presence they gave obedience to that boy, who was
about ten years old; and, not being of an age to govern
them, they decided that the bastard uncle should act with
three other chiefs, one of Guacachula, and two of Izzucan,
who should be governors of the countr}- and should have
control of the boy until he should be of an age to rule.

This city of Izzucan may have some three or four
thousand households, and its streets and markets are
well laid out. It has one hundred mosques and strong
oratories with their towers, all of which we burnt. It
stands on a plain at the foot of a medium-sized hill,
where they have a very good fort, and, on the other
side towards the plain, it is surrounded by a deep river
which flows near the wall, which is thus surrounded by the
deep ravine of the river. Over the ravine they have
made a battlement, about six feet in height, which
extends all round the city, and all along the wall they
had placed many stones. The valley is circular, and
very fertile in fruits and cotton, which latter is not
produced on the heights because of the cold, and it
belongs to tierra caliente because it is well protected by
the mountain ranges. The whole valley is irrigated by
well constructed aqueducts.

I remained in this city until I could leave it well peopled
and pacified. There likewise came to it, to offer them-
sevles as vassals of Your Majesty the chief of the city
called Guajocingo, and the lord of another city, ten leagues
distant from that of Izzucan, on the frontier of Mexico.
There came also people from eight of the towns of the
province of Coastoaca. ^ This is one of those mentioned
in previous chapters, where the Spaniards, whom I had
sent to seek gold in the provinces of Zuzula^ and Tama-
zula^ (for they joined each other) had said that there
because he was a bastard. Thus it was settled, and in

> Oaxaca. * ZozoUa. ^ TamazoUan.

3i8 Letters of Cortes

were very great towns and houses, well built of the best
masonry, such as we had not seen in any of these parts.
This province of G^astoaca is forty leagues from that
of Izzucan. The natives of the said eight towns offered
themselves as vassals of Your Highness, and said that
four others in the same province would come very soon.
They asked me to excuse them if they had not dared to
do so before for fear of the Culuans, but said that they
never had taken up arms against me, nor had they par-
ticipated in the killing of any Spaniards, and that always
since offering themselves to the service of Your Highness
they had been good and loyal subjects in their hearts,
but had not dared to manifest it out of fear of the Culuans.
Thus Your Highness may be very sure that. Our Lord
favouring Your Royal good fortune, we shall within a
short time regain what was lost, or the greater part of it ;
because every day many provinces and cities, who before
were subject to Montezuma, come to offer themselves
as vassals of Your Majesty; for they see that those who
do so are well received and treated by me, and that those
who do othen\'ise are destroyed one after another.

From prisoners taken in the city of Guacachula, es-
pecially from that wounded man, I learned very fully
Montezu- ^bout the affairs of the capital of Temixtitan,
ma's and how, after the death of Montezuma,

Successor g^ brother of his, lord of the city of Izta-
palapa, called Cuetravacin, ^ had succeeded to the
lordship, because the son of Montezuma, who should

' After the death of Montezuma, Cuitlahuaczin of Iztapalapan,
who had been in chief command of the rising against the Spaniards,
assumed the chieftainship and three months later (Aztec calendar)
he was appointed emperor. He married Montezuma's daughter, the
Princess Tecuichpo. His coronation was celebrated with the cus-
tomary solemnities, the prisoners taken on the Sorrowful Night, both
Spaniards and Tlascalans, serving as victims for the sacrifices. The
newly elected sovereign had to cope with a situation bristling with
difiSculties — dissensions within, insubordination in the tributary prov-
inces, the enemy without, and finally and most terrible of all, the

Second Letter 319

have inherited the sovereignty was killed at the bridges
and of his two other living sons one is said to be
mad, and the other palsied. They said that for these
reasons and because he had made war against us, the
brother had inherited, and was regarded as a very valiant
and prudent man. I likewise learned how they were
fortifying, not only the city, but other places in the do-
minion, and how they were preparing walls, barricades,
trenches, and all kinds of arms; and I learned especially
that they were making long lances, like pikes, for the
horses, and we have even seen some of these with which
they were fighting in the province of Tepeaca, and in the
hamlets and buildings where the Culuans were quartered
at Guacachula, we likewise found many of them. I
learned many other things which I omit in order not to
weary Your Highness.

small-pox, which raged throughout the country. To this dread pest,
called by the Aztecs, Teozahuatl — Cuitlahuac fell a victim, and after a
brief reign of eighty days, died on Nov. 25, 1520. During this period
he had exerted every effort to unite all the forces of Mexico against
the common enemy, sending embassies to friends and foes alike, urging
that old differences be buried for the moment, and that all should make
common cause to expel or destroy the strangers. He found a supporter
in Xicotencatl, who, like himself had never believed in the semi-divine
character of the teules, or gods as the Spaniards were commonly
termed, but had from the first distrusted them, and counselled their
destruction. Maxixcatzin withstood Xicotencatl in the Tlascalan
Senate when the embassy from Mexico appeared proposing an
alliance; in the acrimonious dispute which ensued, the old Senator
struck the young General, and knocked him down the steps of the
rostrum. Maxixcatzin prevailed over the divided opinions, and the
ambassadors withdrew hurriedly to report their failure to their sove-
reign. Cortes was informed of these negotiations, and visited Maxix-
catzin to thank him for holding the Republic to the Spanish Alliance.
As will be seen in a note to the Third Letter, Xicotencatl' s sentiments
towards the Spaniards never changed. His foresight was keener than
that of his countrymen, and he discerned that the white men were
far more formidable enemies than the Mexicans, but the lust for
present revenge prevailed over considerations of future independence.
Xicotencatl was unsupported, and, in the end, he paid with his life the
price of his invincible aversion.

320 Letters of Cortes

I sent four ships to the island of Hispaniola, that they
might return quickly with horses and people for our
assistance; and I likewise sent to buy four others, so that
they might bring from the island of Hispaniola, and the
city of San Domingo, horses and horsemen, bows, and
powder, because this is what we most need in these parts.
Foot soldiers armed with shields are of little service,
on account of the great number of people, and their
having so great and such strong cities and forts. I there-
fore wrote to the licentiate Rodrigo de Figueroa, and to
Your Highness's officials in the said island, asking them
to favour and assist me as much as possible, as it was of
such importance to Your Highness's services, and the
security of our lives, since, on the arrival of this help,
I intended to return against the capital and its country;
and I believe, as I have already told Your Majesty,
that it will again in a short time return to the condition
in which I had it before, and that the past losses will
be made good. Meanwhile, I am engaged in building
twelve brigantines to launch on the lake, and already
they are making the decking and other parts of them,
because they have to be carried overland, so that on their
arrival they may be joined and completed in a short
time. Nails are also being made for them, and the
pitch, sails, tow, oars, and other things, which are neces-
sary are being got ready. I assure Your Majesty that,
until I achieve this end, I shall take no rest, nor shall I
cease to strive in every possible way and manner for it,
disregarding all the danger, and trouble, and cost, which
may come upon me.

Two or three days ago, I learnt by a letter from my
lieutenant at Vera Cruz, that a small caravel had ar-
rived in that port with about thirty seamen and landsmen,
who said they were seeking the people whom Francisco
de Garay had sent to this country. Of these latter I
have written to Your Majesty that they arrived in such

Second Letter 321

want of provisions that, if they had not found succour
there, they would have died from hunger and thirst. I
learned from them how they had reached the river
Panuco, remaining anchored there thirty days without
seeing any people along all the river or in the country,
from which it is believed that that country has been
deserted on account of what had happened there. The
people of the said caravel likewise said that two or three
other ships of the said Francisco de Garay would follow
immediately behind them with people and horses, and
that they believed they had already passed down the
coast. It seemed to me, then, that it was not in com-
pliance with Your Highness's service that these ships
and people should be lost through going in ignorance of
the affairs of the country, as the natives might do them
more harm than they had the first ones. The said
caravel shoiild be sent to seek those two ships, in order
to notify them of what had happened, and to bring them
to the port of the said city, where the captain sent by
Francisco de Garay was waiting for them. And God
grant that he finds them in time before they go ashore,
because, as the natives were already on the look-out,
and the Spaniards were ignorant, I fear they may sustain
much harm, and that it would not serve God Our Lord
and Your Highness, for it would enrage those dogs [the
Indians] all the more, and inspire them with more courage
and daring against those who might come hereafter.

I said in one of the preceding chapters, that I had
learned that, after the death of Montezuma, his brother,
called Cuetravacin, who had been raised as Montezu-
lord, was preparing many kinds of arms, and ma's

fortifying himself in the capital, and in other Successor
cities near the lake. And a short time since, I
have likewise learned that the said Cuetravacin has
sent his messengers to aU the countries, provinces,
cities, subject to the said sovereignty, to promise

VOL. I 21

322 Letters of Cortes

his vassals that he has graciously remitted during one
year all tributes and taxes which they are obliged to
pay him, on condition that they would use every means
to make a very cruel war on all Christians, either killing
them or expelling them from the country; and that they
were to do in like manner to all natives who were our
friends or allies. Although I have trust in Our Lord that
they will not be able to carry out their intention, I am
in extreme need of help and aid, because the Indians,
our friends, come daily from many cities, towns, and
hamlets, to ask for help against their enemies and ours,
the Culuans, who make war on them because they hold to
our friendship and alliance, and I am not able to help
everyi\'here as I would wish. But, as I say, may it please
Our Lord to augment our few forces, and to send, not
only His own help, but also that which I have sent to
ask from Hispaniola.

From what I have seen and understood concerning the
similarity between this country and Spain, in its fertility,
its size, its climate, and in many other features of it, it
seemed to me the most suitable name for this country
would be New Spain of the Ocean Sea, and thus in the
name of Your Majesty I have christened it. I humbly
supplicate Your Highness to approve of this and order that
it be so called.

I have written to Your Majesty, although badly ex-
pressed, the truth of all that has happened in these parts
and whatever it was most necessary Your Highness
should know, and, by my other letter which goes with
this present, I send to supplicate Your Royal Excellency
to send a trustworthy person to make an enquiry and
investigation of everything, for the purpose of informing
Your Sacred Majesty of all. In this dispatch I also
again very humbly supplicate the same, for I shall con-
sider it a very particular favour, as giving entire credit
to what I write.

Second Letter 323

Very High and Most Excellent Prince, may God, Our
Lord, preserve the life and the very royal person and the
very powerful state of Your Sacred Majesty, and augment
it for long time with increase of many greater kingdoms
and dominions, according as your royal heart may desire.
From the town of Segura de la Frontera, of this New
Spain, on the 30th October, 1520. Your Sacred Ma-
jesty's very humble servant and vassal, who kisses the
very royal feet and hands of Your Highness.

Fernan Cortes.

NoTE.^ — After this, the news arrived on the first of the
month of March past from the said New Spain, of how
the Spaniards had taken by force the great city of Temix-
titan, in which more Indians had perished than did Jews
in the destruction of Jerusalem when it was taken by
Vespasian, and in it there was likewise a greater number
of people than in the said Holy City. They found little
treasure because the natives had thrown and submerged
it in the waters; they took only two hundred thousand
dollars, and the Spaniards remained well fortified in the
said city, which at present has about fifteen hundred
foot soldiers, and five hundred horsemen, and they have
more than one hundred thousand friendly natives in their
camp. These are great and strange things, and it is
without doubt another world, and the sole desire to see
it causes envy to us who are outside its borders. The
news which we hold to be worthy of belief is up to
the beginning of April, 1522. This present letter of re-
lation was printed in the very noble and very loyal city
of Seville by Jacob Cromberger, a German, on the 8th of
November, 1522.

> This postscriptum was obviously not written by Cortes, but by
some one who read his letter; it was added before the receipt of his
third letter, and was printed with the first edition in 1522.

APPENDICES

325

APPENDIX I.
MARINA

With these few casual words, Cortes refers to the existence
of one of the chief characters in the splendid drama of the conquest
— his Indian mistress Marina, without whose aid the success of the
Spaniards is hardly thinkable. He mentions her once again in his
Fifth Letter, but she appears in his narrative only under the vague
figure of "the interpreter whom I had with me."

There are almost as many different accounts of Marina's birth
and childhood as there were writers to compose them, but all agree
that she was of noble lineage, which Herrera says was evident from her
superior bearing and manners.

Senor Garcia Icazbalceta in Note 37 to the second of the Dialogos
de Cervantes, gives us a critical study of Marina. The conclusions of
this learned writer admit the version given by Bemal Diaz, in spite
of the fact that this contradicts those of his contemporaries. Las
Casas and Gomara, the latter of whom must have had his information
from his patron Cortes, himself. Clavigero adopted Bemal Diaz as his
authority, as did also Solis. Prescott noticed the differences among the
early writers, but refrained from pronouncing in favour of any one of
them. All these authorities, however, were anterior to Garcia Icazbal-
ceta. It would be impossible for any student of history to-day to
neglect his valuable work in Mexican archives, or to ignore his con-
clusions, which may be safely followed and especially in this instance,
in which they are sustained on the narrative of Bemal Diaz. Orozco y
Berra has also eliminated some of the conflicting statements concerning
Marina by an ingenious dissertation on the habitual confusion of
the spelling of Mexican names by the Spaniards, and particularly by
those writers who, never having been in Mexico, were passably ignorant
of Indian nomenclature and Mexican geography, and took their infor-
mation second-hand, often from illiterate or inaccurate persons.

Marina was the daughter of the lord of Painalla, in the province of
Coatzocoalco. Her mother married a second time, and, upon the
birth of a son, she agreed with her husband to dispose of her daughter,
in order that the son might inherit their property. This plan was
effected by giving the young girl to some Indians of Xicalango, and
publishing her death, the body of a slave's child being substituted to
deceive the people. The Xicalango Indians sold the girl to others in

327

328 Letters of Cortes

Tabasco, antl thus she came to be among the twenty slaves presented
to Cortes by the cacique of that province. Marina, in the distribution
of these women, fell to the share of Puertocarrero. When Jeronimo
de Aguilar joined Cortes, it was found that he could speak to Marina
in Maya, which closely resembled the language of Tabasco, and, as her
mother tongue was the Mexican, it came about that, in treating with
envoys from the interior and during the march through Tlascala and
Cholula to the capital, Cortes spoke in Spanish to Aguilar who spoke in
Maya to Marina who spoke with the Mexicans in their own tongue.

Her family name was Tenepal, and her Indian name was Malinal,
derived from Malinalli, which is the sign of the twelfth day of the
Mexican month; thus her Christian name in baptism, which was
Marina, was really derived from, or suggested by, her Indian name, and
as the Indians could not pronounce the letter r there was practically
no change of name, save that in her new and important position they
gave her the tzin, which was a title of respect, and henceforth she was
called Malintzin. The Spaniards corrupted this into Malinche. Cortes
came to be universally known as Captain Malintzin or simply Maliu-
tzin, and to thousands of Indians, he had no other name than that of
this slave girl (Orozco y Berra, vol. iv., cap. v.).

Dona Marina, as the Spaniards called her, was quick at learning
Spanish, which her intimate relations with Cortes facilitated, or, as
Prescott poetically puts it, "because it was the language of love."
Perhaps it was on her side, but there is little evidence to show that it
was on his. Marina was cherished because she was useful, not because
she was beloved, and the circumstances forced her into intimate rela-
tions with Cortes, which were also favoured by her beauty and her
superior wit. Aussi hien celle-ci qu'une autre was doubtless his view
of the sentimental side of his relations with her.

After Puertocarrero 's departure with the despatches and treasure,
Marina reverted definitely to Cortes. Once the expedition had left
the coast provinces, she became more and more indispensable, as
Aguilar spoke no Mexican and the Maya language was not intelligible
to the Mexicans. As soon as she had sufficiently mastered Castilian
to be able to dispense with Aguilar as an intermediary between herself
and Cortes, her position became a dominant one and she held the fate
of the Spaniards in her hand. But most of all was she supreme over
her own people and dispensed peace or war at her pleasure; for she
alone could shape the results of the negotiations and treaties between
Cortes and the caciques. Thus, an unforeseen turn in Fortune's
wheel raised this princess from the degradation of slavery into which
an unnatural mother had delivered her, and landed her in the Span-
iards' camp, where she became the mistress of a nation's destinies.
She showed herself so able, that Bemal Diaz affirms that they all held
her to be like no other woman on earth, and that they had never
detected the smallest feminine weakness in her; she alone of all the
women was saved from the tragedy of the Sorrowful Night, and she

Appendix I. Second Letter 329

saved herself. There is no way of knowing how faithfully and disin-
terestedly she played her part of interpreter; certainly she gave herself
absolutely to Cortes, and her devotion to the Spaniards never faltered,
but who shall say that she also did justice in her presentation of the
Indians' claims and interests in the negotiations she directed ? Author-
ities differ as to the number of children born to Cortes and Dona
Marina; the eldest son, Don Martin, afterwards became a ICnight of
Santiago, and the existence of at least one daughter seems to be suffi-
ciently certain. In October, 1524, Marina was married to Juan
Xaramillo, described as an hildalgo. Bemal Diaz says that the bride-
groom was ignorant of Marina's past, which makes one wonder where
he came from, and Gomara's explanation that he was drunk at the
time sounds more plausible. On the expedition to Yucatan there was
a dramatic encounter between Dona Marina and her perfidious mother
and the younger half-brother in whose interest she had been sacrificed.
The recognition seems to have been instantaneous and mutual; the
mother, fearing vengeance, threw herself at her daughter's feet, begging
forgiveness, which was accorded, with the philosophic assurance that
when she had so treated her child, she did not know what she was
doing (as indeed it appeared), and that she thanked God for the boon
of the Christian religion and the happiness of having given her master
a son and the joy of possessing an excellent husband in Juan Xara-
millo. Dona Marina's Christian morality betrayed it's recent adop-
tion and weak growth at this point. She loaded her relatives with
gifts and sent them home rejoicing. Bemal Diaz was reminded by
this incident of the meeting between Joseph and his brethren in Egypt.
Xaramillo became an alcalde in Mexico, and in 1528 a grant of land
was given to him and his wife near Chapultepec. Prescott describes
Marina as returning to her native place, where an estate was given her,
but Icazbalceta says she ended her days in Mexico, rich and respected ;
Orozco y Berra concedes that she was rich, but doubts that she was
respected. A curious painting represents Cortes with Marina standing
beside him at the execution of a Cholulan servant of Andres de Tapia,
who was condemned to be torn to pieces by fierce dogs; she piously
holds a rosary in her hand as she watches the brutal spectacle,
which took place in 1537. Dona Marina still lived therefore in 1537,
but the date of her death is not recorded (Oviedo, Hist. Gen. y Nat.
lib. xxxiii., cap. i.; Las Casas, Hist, de las Indians, lib. iii., cap. cxxi. ;
Clavigero, tom. iii., [p. 12; Bernal Diaz, cap. xxxvii., Garcia Icaz-
balceta, Dialogos de Cervantes; Orozco y Berra, vol. iv., cap. v.).

•j APPENDIX II.

f MEXICO-TENOCHTITLAN

The migratory period of the Aztecs in the valley of Andhuac came to
its close with the foundation of Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1325. The
name Mexico signifies habitation of the god of war, Mexitli — otherwise
known as Huitzilopochtli. The name Tenochtitlan signifies a cactus
on a rock and was given to the new city because the choice of the site
was decided by the augurs beholding, perched upon a cactus plant
which grew on a rock, an eagle with a serpent in its talons. The em-
blem of the cactus and the eagle holding a serpent became the national
standard of Mexico, and is displayed in the coat of arms of the present
Republic.

The two islands of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco stood in the salt
waters of the lake of Texcoco, separated from one another by a narrow
channel of water, and in the beginning, Tlatelolco had its separate chief ;
but in the reign of Axayacatl, the last king of Tlatelolco, called Moqui-
huiz, was overthrown, and the islands afterwards became united by
bridges and formed one city, with a single ruler. The city was joined
to the main land by three great causeways, so solidly built of earth
and stone, and having draw-bridges to span the canals which crossed
them, as to excite the admiration of the Spaniards. The northern
causeway, from the Tlatelolco quarter, extended for three miles to
Tepejaca, where stands the present shrine of Guadaloupe ; the causeway
reaching to Tlacopan (Tacuba) was two miles long, and the southern
road, by which the Spaniards entered, extended for seven miles to Itz-
tapalapan, with a division at the small fortress of Xoloc, where one
branch diverged to Coyohuacan and hence caused Cortes to mention
four causeways, which strictly speaking was correct. Robertson er-
roneously speaks of a causeway leading to Texcoco. While the width
of these splendid roads varied, Clavigero says that all were wide enough
for ten horsemen to ride abreast (vol. iii., lib. ix.). To the minute
description of the city given in the letter of Cortes, it seems unneces-
sary to add anything; he says nothing, however, about the number of
inhabitants, which all the earlier authorities practically agree in
numbering at 60,000 households — by an obvious error the Anony-
mous Conqueror speaks of 60,000 people, which should, of course, be
families. Zuazo, Gomara, Motolinia, Peter Martyr, Clavigero, and
others, give this estimate, hence it may be safely stated, that the

330

Appendix II. Second Letter 331

city's population was not less than 300,000 souls; though Orozco y
Berra, while admitting these figures, observes that considering the
actual area and the large spaces occupied by palaces and public build-
ings, the people must have been a good deal crowded.

Very contradictory appreciations of the beauty of the Aztec capital,
the grandeur of its buildings, and the merit of its architecture, have
been given by different writers. Prescott's marvellous picture of the
ancient city is familiar to all students of Mexican history, and hardly
less well known and rivalling the American historian's delightful
pages, are the chapters of Sir Arthur Helps, praised by Ruskin for
their "beautiful quiet English," in which he compares Mexico to
Thebes, Nineveh, and Babylon, among the great cities of antiquity, and
to Constantinople, Venice, and Granada, among those of modem times,
not hesitating to declare that it was "at that time the fairest in the
world and has never since been equalled " (Hernan. Cortes, p. 108).
The distinguished Mexican scholar Senor Alaman {Disertaciones, tom.
i., p. 184) expresses his conviction that the city of Mexico contained
no buildings of beauty or merit; that, aside from the royal palaces, the
rest of the houses were adobe huts, amongst which rose the squat,
truncated pyramids of the temples, unlovely to behold, decorated
with rude sculptures of serpents and other horrible figures, and having
heaps of human skulls piled in their court yards. He sustains this
dreary appreciation by the argument that there would otherwise
have remained some fragments of former architectural magnificence,
whereas there is absolutely nothing. These eminent writers seem un-
willing to allow that Tenochtitlan may have been a wonderfully beauti-
ful city and at the same time have possessed few imposing buildings and
no remarkable architecture. The descriptions of Mr. Prescott and Sir
Arthur Helps are masterpieces of word-painting which charm us, but
they are based upon early descriptions in which impeachable importance
is given to architectural features of the city. It is, as Senor Alaman
remarks, incredible that not a fragment of column or capital, statue or
architrave should have been saved to attest the existence of great archi-
tectural monuments, even though 150,000 men were diligently engaged
for two months in destroying the buildings, filling up canals with the
debris and that finally, when the city came to be rebuilt, many idols
and other larger fragments of temples were used in the foundations of
the cathedral, which rose on the site of the great teocalli. Palaces, such
as Montezuma's is described by the Spaniards, may be vast in extent,
with beautiful courts, fountains, gardens, and audience halls, they
may be luxurious and filled with curious and beautiful objects, but
they add little to the picturesque or imposing appearance of a capital ;
the temples were sufficiently numerous, but none save the great temple
seem to have been lofty, and even the principal teocalli had but 114
steps, so that its heighth was only remarkable by comparison with
the great stretch of low flat-roofed houses about it. Cortes describes
the destruction of the city, day by day, which he sincerely deplored as

33^ Letters of Cortes

necessary to subdue it, but he does not mention any one building
which he sought to save, as he must infallibly have done, had he been
burning an Alhambra or a Doge's Palace or been forced to blow up a
Santa Sophia. It seems impossible that any one should seriously pre-
tend that the waters of Texcoco's lake mirrored such fa9ades as are
reflected in the canals of Venice, or that there was a Rialto among
the bridges, so hotly contested by the Spaniards. Orozco y Berra
wisely reproves the comparison which Alaman draws between Mexico
and Rome as notoriously misplaced. But, between the dazzling word
pictures of Prescott and Helps on the one hand, and on the other
Alaman's depressing sketch of a squalid town of hovels, inhabited by
bloodthirsty cannibals, there is still room for a beautiful city in which
dwelt a sovereign, amidst surroundings of interesting splendour.

Even without conscious intention to mislead, it was inevitable that
the Spaniards should fall into exaggeration in describing the city of
Mexico ; first, because they necessarily used the same terms to portray
what they saw as they would have used in describing Rome, Paris,
or Constantinople ; second, because the contrast between such Indian
towns as they had seen and the capital was undoubtedly very great,
and their long years of rough life, perilous voyages, and the absence at
times even of shelter from the elements, made any large town with
some system of order, with houses having court-yards, gardens and
embroidered hangings, seem worthy to be compared with great cities
elsewhere seen and dimly remembered ; and lastly because Mexico was
unquestionably a very beautiful city. It could hardly have been
otherwise in such a situation, and the Spaniards, not stopping to
analyse wherein its charms lay, fell into the easy error of attributing
them to architectural excellence and grandeur, which were really
wanting.

Solis adopts the conquerors' style, without having their excuse
and, were he writing of the Courts of Leo X., or Louis XIV., he could
hardly use other language than he does in describing Montezuma
and his household.

The very ignorance and naiveU of the conquerors are good warrants
for the truth of much that they wrote, for as they were illiterate men
(even Cortes had but a scanty store of learning, gathered during his
brief course of two careless years at Salamanca) without sufficient
knowledge to invent descriptions of the Mexican laws, customs, religion,
and institutions, the facts which they state, and in which they agree,
are indubitable. The Aztec Empire possessed some highly developed
institutions; to mention but one, there was the system of couriers or
the post, which kept up daily and rapid communication between the
capital and the provinces, and that at a time when no country in
Europe possessed anything equalling it.

Their religion was established with a regular hierarchy, and a calen-
dar of festivals, which were observed with a really admirable ritual,
marred only by the barbarity of certain rites ; their deities were gloomy

Appendix II. Second Letter 333

and ferocious, fear was the motive of worship, human sacrifice the
only means of placating the gods, and thus religion, which should
soften and humanise manners and elevate character, was engulfed in a
dreadful superstition, which held the nation in a state of permanent
degradation, with the result that the most civilised amongst the
Indians of North America were at the same time the most bar-
barous. The perfect ordering of this system impressed the Spaniards,
while its awful rites horrified them.

Their state was well ordered, and, in many respects, governed ac-
cording to wise and enlightened standards, and that their civilisation
was of no mean order is proven by the following factors in it :

I. The rights of private property were recognised and respected ; its

transfer was effected by sale or inheritance.

II. All free men were land owners, either by absolute possession or by

usufruct derived from holding some public office in the state,
and these composed the nobility : others held land in commun-
ity, parcels being allotted to a given number of families,
whose members worked them in common and shared their
produce equitably.

III. Taxes were levied according to an established system and were

paid in kind, thus filling the government store-houses with
vast accumulations of all the products of the Empire.

IV. Justice was administered by regularly appointed judges, who

interpreted the laws and exercised jurisdiction in different
districts.

V. Markets were held as Cortes describes.

VI. The streets were regularly cleaned, lighted by fires at night,

and patrolled by police; public sanitary arrangements were
provided, and the city was probably more spacious, cleaner,
and healthier than any European towns of that time.

VII. Public charity provided hospitals for the sick and aged.

VIII. Separate arts and trades flourished, and the metal-workers,

lapidaries, weavers, etc., learned their trades by a regular
system of instruction and apprenticeship pretty much as
in the guilds of Europe.

IX. The great public-works, such as the causeways, aqueducts,

canals with locks, and bridges, were admirably constructed,
and, in the neighbourhood of the capital at least, were
numerous.

X. There was a fair knowledge of the medicinal and curative pro-

perties of herbs, barks, roots, and plants, though, if the
medicine men were skilled in the use of poisons, it seems
strange that they did not rid themselves of the hungry invad-
ers at some of the feasts which were constantly offered them.

XI. In the arts, the lapidaries, feather-workers, and silversmiths

produced the best work. Mexican paintings, judged as works
of art, are crude and primitive enough, but their real value

334 Letter of Cortes.

and interest lie in the fact that they are chronicles in pic-
ture uritiug, of which, unfortunately, too few have been pre-
served; ideas were rarely and imperfectly represented by this
method, which was only serviceable for recording material
facts. Music was the least developed of all the arts.

XII. Their solar system was more correct than that of the Greeks

and Romans. The year was divided into eighteen months,
of twenty days each, with five complementary days added,
which were holidays, but were considered unlucky, especially
as birthdays. For full information on the Mexican calendar,
solar system, and astronomical science, the student is re-
ferred to Orozco y Berra. Hist. Antiqua, lib. iv., where these
subjects are lucidly explained.

XIII. There we were regularly graduated social classes, the lowest

being composed of peasant-serfs called Mayeques who were

bound to the land ; above them came ascending grades until

we reach the Emperor at the top of all.

Three features characteristic of the feudal system everywhere
are found: A. An overlord or Emperor, supreme in the cen-
tral government, whose standard all followed in war and whose
authority and person were regarded as semi-divine. B. Prac-
tically independent nobles or chiefs of tribes, levying their own
taxes holding peoples and cities in subjection, transmitting
their titles by right of inheritance and ready to contend with
the Emperor himself on questions of etiquette, and precedence.
Many of these were his kinsmen and all were allied amongst
themselves, thus forming an aristocracy of rank and power.
C. A people reduced to practical serfage.

Sumptuary laws prescribed the dress of the diflEerent orders,
and the regulations governing court dress for different occasions
were rigidly enforced; all removed their sandals in the emperor's
presence, and even the greatest nobles covered their ornaments
with a plain mantle when they appeared before him. The Aztec
language was extremely polite and contained not only titles,
but many ceremonious phrases of respect and expressions of
courtesy and deference.

The crown descended in the same family, but a council of six
electors, chosen during the lifetime of the sovereign, met im-
mediately after his death and elected a successor from among
the eligible princes of the royal family.
Alongside these indications of an advanced civilisation are found
several others which show a nation still in its infancy:

I. They did not know the use of wax or oil for lighting purpose.

II. They used no milk.

III. They had no coinage : cacao nuts were commonly used as a stand-

ard of value and also gold dust put up in quills, but usually

Appendix II. Second Letter 335

commodities were exchanged. Sahagun mentions a sort of
coin which the Mexicans called quahtli or eagle, but he
does not describe it. Montezuma paid his losses at play
with the Spaniards in chips of gold, each of the value of fifty
ducats; this piece was called tejuelo, but it does not cer-
tainly appear to have been a coin.

IV. There was no system of phonetic writing.

V. They kept no domestic animals save rabbits, chickens, and little

dogs, all of which they ate ; and they had no beasts of burden.

VI. Their only cereal was maize.

VII. They knew neither iron, nor tin, nor lead, though the moun-

tains were full of them, and their only hard metal was copper.

Even from the summary and incomplete indications here given, it is
seen that the Aztec state possessed many excellent institutions and
elements of an advanced civilisation, and, despite the co-existence of
certain limitations which have led some to doubt the development
claimed for them, our interest in the origin and history of the myste-
rious races of Andhuac is stimulated to wonder and admiration for what
we do know of their empire, and to boundless regret for the disap-
pearance of all, save the few vestiges which remain to excite a curiosity
they are inadequate to appease.

It is not required to endow Mexico with "the glory that was
Greece or the grandeur that was Rome " in order to admit that it was
beautiful.

APPENDIX III.
ORIGINS OF MEXICAN CIVILISATION

The different tribes or nations of An^huac came, according to their
several traditions, from the north-west, in a series of migrations,
but of their original starting point they preserved no clear record.
M. de Guigne presents proofs to show that the Chinese visited Mexico
as early as 458 a.d.; Horn (de originibus Americanis, 1699), Scherer
(Recherches Hist.), Humboldt (Essai Polit.) and other authorities,
without a dissentient voice, assign an Asiatic origin to the Toltecs and
other Mexican peoples. That Mexico received settlers from other
parts of the world seems also certain. Aristotle {De Admirandis in
natura) relates that Carthaginian sailors passed the Pillars of Hercules,
and, after sailing sixty days to the west, reached a beautiful and fertile
country, and that so many began to go thither that the Senate of
Carthage passed a law suppressing such emigration, to prevent the
depopulation of the city. The theory of the submerged Atlantis,
and the arguments on which it rests, are too well known to require
explanation.

The efforts to graft Mexican civilisation on to an Asiatic or African
stock have not been entirely successful, for, while there tindoubtedly
exist points of striking similarity, these seem to be counterbalanced by
still more important divergencies. The paucity of positive data or even
coherent traditions has left a wide field open to speculation, of which
many learned and ingenious seekers have availed themselves to the
fullest extent, but without achieving results commensurate with their
labours. Without attempting a thorough search into the racial origin
of the tribes which Cortes found in the valley of Mexico, it may be
briefly stated that the best evidence before us points to Yucatan as
the centre of the highest American civilisation, from whence a know-
ledge of law, arts, and manufactures, and the influence of an organised
religious system, spread northwards. The splendid ruins of Yucatan and
Central America attest the existence of a race of people, which, what-
ever its origin, was isolated from European and Asiatic influence alike
since an epoch which it is impossible to fix, but which was certainly
very remote. This race — the Maya — possessed a civilisation, sui
generis, and entirely unique on the North American continent, the
focus of which had already shifted to the high valley of Mexico long
before the Spaniards first visited the country in the sixteenth century

336

Appendix III. Second Letter 337

leaving the ancient cities of Uxmal, Palenque, Utatlan, and the others
in the southern region, in ruins. What devastating influences pro-
duced this movement in an entire people is not known, and the length
of time occupied by it, is problematical, though it must have extended
over centuries, ebbing and flowing intermittently. The conflicting
traditions as to the direction from which tribes, law-givers, and priests
arrived in Andhuac are doubtless owing to distinct movements at
different times of the southern peoples in their wandering search for
a new and permanent abiding place. These early migrations from
south to north, were succeeded during the period commonly termed
the Middle Ages, by a counter movement, and the descendants of the
first Maya emigrants began to return southwards, conquering or ab-
sorbing the different peoples they encountered. Although some of the
peoples had preserved much of the culture bequeathed them by their
forefathers, there was no uniform civilisation existing among them,
save in the case of the Toltecs, who seem still to have been in the full
enjoyment of their Maya heritage.

The Toltecs left their country, called Huehuetlalpallan, in the vague
north-west, in the year 554 a.d., and, after one hundred and four years
of migratory life, they founded the city of ToUantzinco in 648, whence
they again moved in 667 to Tula, or ToUan, from which date, their
monarchy, which lasted three hundred and eighty-four years, is
reckoned (Clavigero, vol. iv.). According to Torquemada, the Chi-
chimecas followed within nine years after the extinction of the Toltec
sovereignty, but Clavigero's calculation shows the improbability
of this, for several reasons, the most convincing of which is the in-
credible chronology of their kings. Torquemada says that Xolotl
reigned 113 years, his son lived to be 170, and his grandson 104
years old, while another king, Tezozomoc reigned 180 years! It is
obvious that the Chichimeca period must either be shortened, or the
number of kings increased. After the Chichimecas came the six
tribes of Tlascala, Xochimilco, Acolhua (Texcoco), Tepanec, Chalco,
and Tlahuichco, closely followed by the Colhuans or Mexicans, who hrst
arrived at Tula in 1196, and, after several shorter migrations, finally
founded Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1325, as is related inAppendix II. of
this letter. The last tribe to come was that of the Otomies in 1420.
Boturini believed that the tribes of Xicalango and the Olemchs ante-
dated the Toltecs, but says that no records or picture-writings explain-
ing their origin were discoverable in his time. From the foundation
of Mexico in 1325, the form of government was aristocratic till 1352,
when according to Torquemada's interpretation of their picture-
writings, the first King Acamapatzin, eighth predecessor of Montezuma
II., was elected, and reigned for thirty-seven years.

The Aztec civilisation, which attained its highest development in Ten-
ochtitlan and Texcoco, never reached the level of the Maya culture, nor
did its cities contain any such admirable buildings as those whose ruins
still delight and mystify the traveller in Yucatan and Central America.

VOL. I.— 21

338 Letters of Cortes

Outside its few centres of learning and luxury, the numerous tribes
under Montezuma's rule were dwellers in caves, living by the chase and
in no way sharing in the benefits of the Aztec polity. In morals and
manners, the Aztecs were inferior to the Toltecs, and though they
adopted and continued the civilisation of their predecessors, they were
devoid of their intellectual and artistic qualities, and turned their
attention more to war and commerce as the surest means for riveting
their supremacy on their neighbours. When Cortes arrived, Texcoco
and Tlacopan, though still calling themselves independent, and ruled
by sovereigns who held themselves co-equal with Montezuma, were
rapidly sinking into a condition of vassalage. The Aztec religion
was likewise of a militant order; it was polytheistic and readily
admitted the gods of conquered or allied nations into its pantheon.
Upon the milder cult of the older religious systems they had adopted^
these devotees of the war-god speedily grafted their own horrible
practices of human sacrifices, which augmented in number and ferocity
until the temples became veritable chamel houses. With such a bar-
barous religious system draining their ver^' life's blood, and a relentless
despotism daily encroaching on their liberties, it is small wonder that
Cortes was hailed as a liberator by the subject peoples of Mexico.

In the third chapter of his Historia Antigua, Don Manuel Orozco
y Berra examines what he terms the two schools, the religious
and the philosophical, whose teachings concerning the origin and
early history of the Mexicans are based upon the interpretation of
the ancient and authentic Mexican painting, now preserved in the
National Museum in Mexico, and %vhich came into the possession of the
historian Ixtlilxochitl from his royal ancestors of Texcoco. The religious
reading of this unique Chronicle (it is always Orozco y Berra who is my
authority) sought to harmonise its chronology, and certain primitive
events in the national history, with the biblical story, and all the early
writers of this school, Carlos de Siguenza, Gemelli Careri, Clavigero,
Veytia, and others, found in it an account of the creation, the flood,
the tower of Babel, the dispersion of the nations, and other incidents of
the mosaic records.

The philosophical school, of which Humboldt was the chief, following
other lines, arrived, however, at a similar result, and connected the
foundation of Mexico with the cessation of the deluge, and thus the
problem of the origin of American races and animals was solved.

Don Fernando Ramirez, some time Curator of the Mexican National
Museum, by showing the interpretation of both these schools to be mere
illusions, demolished their conclusions, and interpreted the picture
as merely representing the wanderings of the Mexicans in the valley
itself, covering an area of about nine miles and a period of hardly more
than 443 years, calculating from 1325 back to 882, a.d., the earliest
chronological sign in the painting; while the water represented, is not
the flood of but the neighbouring lake of Chalco.

The complex question of the relation in which the Maya and Toltec

Appendix III. Second Letter 339

civilisations stood to one another has not yet found a generally ac-
cepted solution. Working in the light which anthropology, ethnology,
archeology, and kindred modem sciences afiEord, many valuable
facts have been recently discovered and the investigations still pro-
ceeding, yearly contribute highly specialised knowledge to the sum
of what the early Spanish writers amassed but failed to scientifically
classify. But with all this, the path through the American historical
labyrinth remains a tortuous one : whether the Toltecs preceded the
Mayas and brought into Yucatan the high civilisation of which noble
remains attest the existence, or whether this civilisation was of Maya
origin and afterwards spread towards the north, influencing the Toltecs,
are questions on which various opinions are held by modern investi-
gators. I incline to accept the latter theory, but while such learned
authorities are still at variance, it were presumption for a mere student
of early American history to present conclusions.

In this brief summary of such a large subject, I have sought to
furnish the general reader with an intelligible explanation of the
origins and history of the civilisation which Cortes beheld when
first he visited Mexico.

APPENDIX IV.
QUETZALCOATL

Montezuma here refers to Quetzalcoatl who figures, under different
names in different times and places, as a mortal man, as a deified legis-
lator, and as a primitive divinity, so that it is difficult to separate the
mythical in his history from the real. He was known in Yucatan
under the name of Ktiktilcan, the meaning of which is identical with
Questzalli and Cohuatl — a plumed serpent.

Quetzalcoatl was a Toltec deity, and was venerated as the god of the
air, especially identified with the east wind, which brought the fertilising
rains. As the teachings and prophecies attributed to him potently influ-
enced the attitude of the Mexicans towards the Spaniards, on their
arrival in the country, it is necessary to consider both his mythical and
historical character. In the native mythology, Quetzalcoatl personified
the principle of good in contradistinction to the principle of evil, under
the figure of Tezcatlipoca. The story of his residence among the
peoples of Anahuac relates that he arrived at Tollan (Tula) the capital
of the Toltecs, as chief of a band of strangers, from unknown parts,
and that he was well received by the natives to whom he taught
the arts of agriculture, metal working, architecture, and mechanics.
He introduced also the new religious virtues of chastity, trust in one
God, the love of peace, and the practice of charity and penance. He
also brought the Toltec calendar to the state of perfection in which
it was found amongst the Aztecs. He wore a white tunic on which
were black or red crosses, which sounds something like a pallium.
He was large of person, white faced, and wore his black hair and
beard long. Exercising the high priesthood, he initiated the golden
age of the Toltecs, during which the cotton grew in various colours,
red, blue, orange, and purple, maize crops were over-abundant, the
canes grew as large round as tree trunks, and pumpkins so big that a
man's arms could not encircle one ; nobody was ever hungry, animals
were all tame, and the birds sang wonderfully. Sahagun catalogues
him as the eighth king of the Toltecs. This halcyon period was brought
to an end by the machinations of the evil spirit Tezcatlipoca who
descended to earth on a spider's web, and, taking the form of a vener-
able sage, tempted, Quetzalcoatl beyond his strength, and made
him drunk on pulque, during which orgies the god violated his
vows of chastity. This fall shook the faith of his people and the

3^0

Appendix IV. Second Letter 341

legend recounts further, that, in a war brought on by the same
evil-spirit, the Toltecs were worsted. A universal famine followed
upon the war, only to be succeeded by a terrible pestilence. Signs and
portents foretold the destruction of the race, and Quetzalcoatl burned
his house, buried his treasures in a secret place, and, despite the
opposition of his adherents, left, called as he declared, by his master,
to the mystic land of Tlapallan. His progress through the country
was attended by prodigies and miracles until he reached Cholula,
where he rested for twenty years, teaching the people, and pontificating
in their great temple. But the enemy, hearing of this, prepared again
to make war on the friends of Quetzalcoatl, who, to prevent this disas-
ter, left with four disciples for the sea-coast. Here according to some
versions, the waves parted, allowing him to pass, and according to
others, he made himself a raft of serpents, and, spreading his mantle
for a sail, was wafted away to the unknown east. Another legend
describes him as causing his funeral pyre to be erected, from which
his heart ascended into the skies, where it figures as the planet
Venus.

The belief in his prophecy, that he or his representatives would one
day return to re-establish and render triumphant his religious teach-
ings, was wide-spread, and furnishes something of a parallel to the
Messianic hope prevalent amongst the Jews, or to the expectation of
a second visible coming of Christ on which the early Christians
counted. He was to return as an avenger, and hence his coming was
dreaded by the Aztecs, who believed in it so firmly that they carried
on a cult to propitiate him, though their religious practices did
violence to his humaner teachings.

The mysterious disappearance of the Toltecs from Anahuac may
have been caused by the war, famine, and pestilence, of this legend, and
the remnant of the people may have made an exodus with their priestly
leader, leaving their city to the victors, and thus might be explained
the sudden disappearance of that people. While the material benefits
which Quetzalcoatl brought to the Toltecs and Cholulans were readily
enough assimilated, it is probable that his religious teachings were not
widely diffused or properly understood by the mass of the people, and
after his departure they rapidly became mixed with ancient supersti-
tions. Christian doctrines became denaturalised and blended with
pagan traditions, thus losing their significance and efficacy. The
original, national cult of the Toltecs reasserted itself with the addition
of some beliefs and ritual forms. The passage through Mexico of a few
Christians under the leadership of one possessing the superior character
and intelligence attributed to Quetzalcoatl would suffice to introduce
new moral and religious ideas, and produce great changes in the
beliefs of the more cultivated people; for the indubitable unity of all
mankind is essentially a unity of spirit, which draws together widely
diversified races, whose physical features are dissimilar, and whose
customs are alien to one another.

342 Letters of Cortes

Religion springs from an inherent aspiration, common to human
nature everywhere, towards a knowledge of, and union with, what is
divine and eternal. The development of this instinct carries humanity
through the same phases according to laws governing religious evolu-
tion, which are universal. Asia, Africa, and ancient Europe, have
produced religious systems, each with its myths, rites of sacrifice,
practices of penance, vigils, ceremonial observances, and consecrated
priests, and the conclusion seems obvious that within human nature
itself are found the springs from which these various independent
systems — identical in their intention but so different in their moral
value — originate. Man is potential to respond to the demands of his
own being, whether in the physical and material, or in the moral and
spiritual order, and, although the organisation and development
observed in primitive religions many differ widely in different quarters
of the globe, yet wherever mankind dwells in community, religious
development stands on the same foundation and proceeds according
to the same fundamental law.

It need therefore in reality be no more astonishing that the Maya
race and its descendants should have evolved a completely organised
religious system, with an impressive ritual and a well-ordered calendar
of ecclesiastical festivals, independently of any previous communica-
tion with the old world, than that they were found to have a know-
ledge of spinning, weaving, and metal working, and an effective system
of civil government. All due allowance being made however for such
considerations, the beliefs and practices of the Mexicans, which were
so like Christian ones as to exclude the hypothesis of mere chance, were
numerous and striking.

Duran says of their triune idol that "being one," he is adored under
three names, and having three names, he is adored as one almost as we
believe in the most Holy Trinity. The persons of this trinity were Totec
the lord of the majesty and fear; Xipe, the man despised and perse-
cuted, and Tlatlauhquitezcatl, the mirror of splendour. Children were
baptized between three and twelve years — signifying a new birth —
by pouring on of water to cleanse them from the taint of inherited sin ;
and auricular confession was practised for the forgiveness of sin com-
mitted, penances being imposed. Even their revolting human sacri-
fices seem to have been a degraded and materialised interpretation of
our Lord's words of consecration when instituting the Eucharistic sacri-
fice, for the flesh of the victim was eaten reverently, while sacramental
words were pronounced calling it the jood of the soul and the very flesh
of the god to whom the sacrifice was being offered. Holy water was
used in many ceremonies, and especially at the crowning of kings.
At stated times, a sort of passion play was performed in which a man
was bound to a cross and killed with arrows. All these, and many
other ceremonies bearing a striking analogy to Christian rites, much
impressed the Spaniards, especially the friars, who composed a
voluminous literature on the subject. Sometimes, indeed, theories were

Appendix IV. Second Letter 343

built up on rather frail foundations of fact, and conclusions were
reached by undue straining of the imagination rather than by the exer-
cise of critical research. The Indians frequently misled their new-
teachers, giving such interpretation of their rites as they thought would
be most acceptable, when not themselves ignorant of the real significance
of their symbols and ceremonies; as, indeed, many poorly instructed
Christians to-day could not explain intelligibly, to an inquiring visitor
from Mars, the meaning of emblems and practices with which they are,
nevertheless, familiar. But with every such allowance, there still
remains a sufficient number of authenticated and perfectly understood
doctrines and observances in the ancient Mexican cult, to argue con-
vincingly their Christian origin; hence many writers have identified
Quetzalcoatl with some unknown Christian missionary priest — possibly
an Oriental bishop — while others have even thought he was the apostle
St. Thomas. This startling opinion has not lacked eloquent defenders,
but it is excluded froin serious consideration by the fact that St.
Thomas lived in the first century, and Quetzalcoatl in the tenth, with-
out adducing others which conclusively disprove it.

The identity of Quetzalcoatl remains an unsolved mystery, and,
after his departure, it became merged into that of mythical di-
vinities, with a plumed serpent for his emblem. The confused
notions which the Mexicans preserved concerning his life, his acts
and miracles, and his final disappearance, and their interweaving
of other legends of their more beneficent deities with his imperfectly
transmitted doctrines, and the distorted facts in his personal history
are no more extraordinary than many of the popular tales frotn lives
of the saints, and other wonder stories which are cherished from gener-
ation to generation by ignorant and imaginative people everywhere.
Unless some heretofore undiscovered treasure house of lost records
delivers the key to the early history of the Toltecs, there seems little
hope that our imperfect knowledge concerning him will receive any
important additions. The systematic destruction of the picture writ-
ings of the ancient Mexicans, and particularly of everything connected
with their religion, which was carried on for years with misguided zeal
by the Spaniards, cut off the source from which fuller information
might have been hoped. Much and very severe criticism has fallen
upon the ecclesiastics — notably Bishop Zumarraga — by whom this sad
destruction was accomplished, and the not unnatural vexation, with
which historians view what now seems to have been a work of ignorant
and unnecessary fanaticism, has lent undue vehemence to the blame
assigned to these well-intentioned iconoclasts. The destruction is un-
doubtedly most regrettable, but, in strict justice, it must be admitted
that the extent of the loss which American history sustained is
entirely problematical, for we do not certainly know that the destroyed
records contained anything which has not been learned from others
which were preserved, and from the Indians themselves at the time of
the conquest. On the other hand our debt to the friars is very great,

344 Letters of Cortes

for to tlu'm alone is it owing that anything at all survived the Spanish
conquest. They alone, amidst the hordes of gold-greedy colonists
who scoured the country in search of mines and slaves, established
humane relations with the Indians, learned their language, studied
their records, and while bringing them into schools to teach them
Christianity, learned from them all that could be discovered concerning
their own religion, history, and traditions. Franciscans such as
Sahagun, Torquemada, Motolinia, Landa, and Lizana, Jesuits such as
Acosta, Duran, and later Clavigero — to mention some of the more
notable amongst many workers — are the fathers of American history,
to whose labours is due the preservation of an enormous mass of
information — all we possess in fact — which would otherwise have
perished irrevocably.

It may be safely assumed that little or nothing of importance which
the Indians themselves knew escaped the researches which these and
other men of their order conducted with patience and intelligence.
Those among the early ecclesiastics in whom the critical faculty was
wanting made good this lack by their diligence, amassing the materials
which served later writers, to whom fell the task of assorting the con-
fused historical lumber they had collected. It appears that the Mexi-
cans knew surprisingly little about their own history, and that their
trustworthy traditions did not carry them very far back. The Indians
of Yucatan, in' the time of Diego Landa, were unable to decipher the
inscriptions on the ruined temples, and only the most vague and im-
probable legends concerning the buildings of their ancient cities
survived amongst them. It does not seem, therefore, unreasonable to
temper our impatience towards Bishop Zumarraga's act of vandalism
by the reflection that the destroyed records would have probably
furnished no link between the civilisation of Anahuac and that of
Yucatan and Central America.

Authorities consulted on Quetzalcoatl, Sahagun, lib. iii., cap. v.-
xiv. ; Torquemada, lib. iii., cap., vii. ; Motolinia in Icazbalceta pp. lo,
30, 65; Mendieta, p. 82-98; Clavigero, tom. ii., p. 11-14; Servanda
Teresa de Mier in Bustatnanie; Orozco y Berra, tom. i., cap. iv.,
tom. ii., cap. iii.; Brasseur de Bourbourg, lib. ii., cap. iv., lib. iii.,
cap. ii. Chamay, Ancient Cities ; Bulletins of Bureau of American
Ethnology.

APPENDIX V.

THE TEMPLE

This statement is obviously inaccurate ; Cortes has just said that fifty
steps led to the summit of the chief teocalli which would allow for
a very modest elevation, whereas the Giralda Tower of Seville Cathe-
dral was built 300 years before Mexico was discovered and was then 185
feet high. Neither was it during this first visit to the temple of Tlatel-
olco in Montezuma's company that the idols were overthrown ; that
event happened in the teocalli of the great temple on another occasion
when Montezuma was not present. Most writers — including Prescott
— misled by Cortes, have confused the two visits and the two different
temples, but Bemal Diaz makes it perfectly clear that the first visit
was to the temple adjoining the market place in the Tlatelolco quarter
of the city. This temple was even loftier than the principal one, and the
arrangements in both were essentially the same (Orozco y Berra,
lib. ii., cap. iv. ; Icazbalceta, Dialogos de Cervantes, p. 201). The
great teocalli of the chief temple was completed in the form in which
the Spaniards beheld it by Montezuma's grandfather, Ahuitzotl, in
1487, when the solemn dedication was celebrated by the sacrifice of a
vast number of human victims, estimated by Torquemada at 72,344
(Monarchia Indiana, lib. ii., cap. Ixiii.), by Ixtlilxochitl at 80,000
Historia Chicimeca), but more credibly fixed by the Tellerian and
Vatican Codices at the still respectable figure of 20,000. Pretexts
for wars with various tribes were invented in order to procure the
victims for this ghastly hecatomb, and the ceremony of incessant
slaughter occupied two days.

The exact form and dimensions of the temple are not positively
known, but it is probable that the pyramid was an oblong, measuring
something over three hundred feet in length at its base and rising in
graduated terraces to a height of something less than one hundred feet.
Bemal Diaz {Hist. Verdad., cap. viii.,) says that he coiinted the steps,
which numbered one hundred andf ourteen , and this tallies almost exactly
with the statement of Andres Tapia (Relacion, p. 582,) that he counted
one hundred and thirteen steps. Bemal Diaz also measured the pyra-
mids at Cholula and Texcoco in the same way, and counted one hundred
and twenty steps on the former, and one hundred and seventeen on the
latter, hence, if he was accurate, the great pyramid of Mexico was not
the loftiest in the empire. Not one of the Spaniards who saw this

345

346 Letters of Cortes

edifice seems to have observed it critically, or to have left a complete
architectural description of it to posterity. They were all more im-
pressed with the horrors they witnessed in it and their dreadful signific-
ance than with the architectural details ; all agree that it was a most awe-
some place, in which dark, gruesome chambers, smelling like a slaughter
house, contained hideous idols, smeared with human blood. In these
dim recesses, demoniacal priests, clad in black robes, with grotesquely
painted faces, framed in blood-clotted locks, celebrated their inhuman
rites, and offered smoking hearts on golden salvers to the monstrous
deities there enthroned. The presiding figure of this theocratic charnel
house was that of the god of war Huitzilopochtli — the humming bird to
the left — and of his image Bemal Diaz gives a careful description. Its
face was distorted and had terrible eyes; the body was covered with
gold and jewels, and was wound about with the coils of golden
serpents; in the right hand w-as held a bow, and in the left a bundle
of arrows. Suspended from the idol's neck was a necklace of human
heads and hearts made of gold and silver with precious stones set in
them, and by its side stood the figure of a page, called Huitziton,
bearing a lance and shield richly jewelled. This little statue of the
page was carried by the priests in battle, and was also on certain occa-
sions borne with much pomp through the streets. The honours of these
altars were shared by Tezcatlipoca — Shining Mirror — who was called
"the soul of the world." He was a god of law and severe judgment
and was much dreaded. His statue was of black obsidian, and sus-
pended from his plaited hair, which was confined in a golden net,
was an ear made of gold, towards which mounted tongues of smoke
symbolising ascending praj^ers. On the summit of the teocalli stood
a great cylindrical drum tlapanhiiehnetl) , made of serpents' skins,
which was beaten on certain solemn occasions, and as an alarum. It
is said to have given forth a most sinister sound, which could be heard
for miles. During the siege, the Spaniards had sad cause to shudder
at its fearsome roll which announced the sacrifice of their captive com-
rades, whose white, naked bodies were even discernible in the dusky
procession which moved, in the glare of torches and the sacred fires,
up the terraces of the pyramid on its way to the stone of sacrifice.
The area of the courtyard, some twelve hundred feet square, was
paved with flat polished stones, which were so slippery the Spaniards'
horses could hardly keep their footing. Four gates in the surrounding
wall, called coatepantli, gave entrance to the courtyard, one facing
each of the cardinal points, and over each gate there was kept a store
of arms in readiness for attack or defence. Sahagun {Hist. Niieva
Espana, torn, i., p. 197) enumerates seventy-eight different buildings
inside the wall surrounding the courtyard; they comprised chapels,
cells for priests, fountains for ablutions, quarters for students and
attendants, and a number of smaller teocalli. This tallies with the
description of Cortes and Bemal Diaz, and makes it evident that the
entire group of buildings somewhat resembled the Kremlin at Moscow,

Appendix V. Second Letter 347

or a vast cathedral close. In one of the temples the Spaniards esti-
mated that a symmetrical pyramid of bones contained one hundred and
thirty-six thousand human skulls. Amongst these temples there was
one dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, circular in form and having its entrance
built in imitation of a serpent's open mouth. Bernal Diaz says that
this was a veritable hell, or abode of demons, in which they saw
frightful idols, cauldrons of water in which to prepare the flesh of the
victims, which the priests ate, and furnishings like those of a butcher's
stall; so that he never called the place other than "hell."

Human sacrifices and cannibalism were practised even in honour of
the beneficent deity of the Toltecs, whose mild teachings, pure life,
and aversion to war, persuade us that he must have been a Christian
bishop. Nothing more conclusively proves that, in spite of their
material prosperity, their extended empire, and a certain refinement in
their social life, the Aztecs occupied a much lower moral and intel-
lectual level than did their Toltec predecessors in Anahuac. From
the Toltecs they had received the foundations of their civilisation ; all
that was good in their religion or true in their philosophy, all that was
known amongst them of science, they received from that mysterious
race whose only records are a few neglected and almost unknown
ruins.

After the conquest, the great temple was razed to the ground. In
its foundations were found a quantity of treasures, which had been
placed there as offerings when the pyramid was first begun. The
stone idols and carvings were for the most part built into the founda-
tions of the Christian cathedral which stands upon its site.

Montezuma had readily assented, very soon after the arrival of the
Spaniards, to the installation of a chapel in the Spanish quarters, and
a room was consequently prepared, in which mass was said daily, as
long as the supply of wine held out. The soldiers said their daily
prayers before the cross and the sacred images, especially at the hour
of the Ave Maria.

While seeking for the best place to erect the altar in this room,
Alonso Yanez discovered a concealed door, which Cortes, who was
informed of the discovery, ordered to be forced open. Beyond was a
vast chamber containing the treasure of Axayacatl and other Aztec
kings, forming a great heap of gold and jewels in the centre of the
room, while all the walls were covered with splendid stuffs, thick
feather-work, shields, and other objects of precious metals. After
inspecting the fabulous collection, Cortes had the door sealed up
again, and cautioned his followers not to betray their knowledge of
its existence to the Mexicans (Bernal Diaz, cap. xciii.). Andres de
Tapia's account (Incazbalceta, Doc. Ined., torn, ii., p. 580) says that
Cortes told Montezuma of his discovery, and that the emperor pre-
sented him with all the gold and jewels in that treasury.

After repeated conversations with Montezuma on religious subjects,
none of which seemed to advance his conversion, the patience of Cortes

348 Letters of Cortes

gave out. and it was when the Spaniards had been about five months
in the city that the destruction of the idols in the great teocalli took
place. The scene in the temple is characteristic of the times and the
man.

Human life was cheap in Cortes's eyes, and the cruelties inflicted
on the natives in the furtherance of his designs show that it was not
the inhumanity of the sacrifices which filled him with the most abhor-
rence. It was the sight of idolatry, of people given over to devil
worship, that inflamed his Catholic blood, and there seems, on this
occasion, to have been no friar Olmedo at hand to restrain him, as
in Cholula. He first called the priests together and delivered a pious
exhortation, explaining the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of
man, and other Christian beliefs, conjuring them to abandon the super-
stitions which imperilled their immortal souls, to purify the altars,
and dedicate them to the true God and the saints. As the priests
defended their own, the controversy enraged Cortes beyond control,
and seizing an instrument he began smashing the idols right and left
with such magnificent fury that Andres de Tapia declared that he
seemed like a supernatural being. Montezuma was notified, and
entreated him for prudence's sake to desist, as such profanation would
provoke an uprising of the people. Cortes, however, was deaf to re-
monstrance, and the idols were cast out, the temple washed and put
in order, two altars being set up, one to Our Lady and the other to
Saint Christopher, with their respective statues upon them. Mass
was thenceforth said there, and some of the Indians came to the
ceremony, as they wanted rain and, their own gods being overthrown,
they were willing to invoke the Spaniards' God. Cortes declared they
should have rain, and, with the most confident faith, ordered prayers
and a procession to obtain this blessing; although the procession set
forth under a cloudless sky, it returned after Mass in such a down-
pour that the people waded ankle deep in the streets. Malintzin's
religion was vindicated (Andres de Tapia Relacion, p. 584-6).

APPENDIX VI.

MASSACRE OF THE MEXICAN NOBLES

This was Pedro de Alvarado. Simultaneously four messengers ar-
rived from Montezuma to complain that the captain had ordered an
unprovoked attack upon the Mexicans during a religious festival, and
that the latter had merely defended themselves as best they could.
The feast of Toxcatl fell upon the tenth of May, and only the highest
and noblest adorned with their richest ornaments, but unarmed,
took part in the ceremonial dance. Cortes had consented, before he
left Mexico, to the usual celebration, with the proviso that there should
be no human sacrifices, though very likely the priests reserved their
intention to perform that part of the rites privately. The first con-
trariety arose from Alvarado's refusal to allow the statue of Huitzilo-
pochtli to be restored to its former place, from which it had been
ejected to make room for the altars to the Blessed Virgin and St.
Christopher. The Tlascalans next excited his suspicions that the
festival was merely a pretext to collect a large multitude in the city,
the real object being to fall upon the diminished garrison and exter-
minate it. On the day of the feast, Alvarado and others saw certain
idols, decked out for the procession, standing in the court of the temple,
and also three youths in new robes and with shaven heads, which indi-
cated that they were destined for sacrifice. Alvarado seized the in-
tended victims, and, by putting them to worse tortures than those of
the sacrificial stone, under which one of them died, he obtained such
testimony as he wanted from the other two, who were mere lads, to
prove that a general revolt was planned. What these poor creatures
could be supposed to know of such conspiracies does not appear, but
Alvarado was satisfied, and, arming his men, he left some in charge
of Montezuma, with orders to kill the nobles who were with him, and
repaired with the others to the great teocalU, where six hundred nobles
and priests were dancing, while some three thousand others assisted
as spectators. The appearance of the Spaniards caused no interruption,
but, at a given signal, they drew their weapons and fell upon the defence-
less people, slaughtering them without quarter; the doors were guarded,
so few escaped, but they gave the alarm and roused the city. Mean-
while the nobles of the court had been slain, and the Spaniards had
fortified themselves inside their quarters. The exact place where the
dance took place is uncertain, as neither Cortes nor Bernal Diaz mentions

349

350 Letters of Cortes

it; Acosta contradictinp most of the early writers, argues that it must
have been the court of the palace where Montezuma was. It nowhere
appears, however, that Montezuma was present, and, as the dance was a
religious rite, the temple court would seem more indicated for its cele-
bration. Alvarado, who was wounded on the head by a stone, ap-
peared before Montezuma crying : "See what your subjects have done ! "
but the Emperor answered that had he not begun the disturbance the
Mexicans would have remained peaceable, adding, "You have undone
yourself and me." Nor did Alvarado's explanations satisfy Cortes,
who openly showed his anger upon his arrival.

Indeed, his conduct seems destitute of any reasonable excuse, and his
efTorts to exculpate himself at his trial were weak and confused; at best
he had but the word of a captive, an intended victim, and that
wrung from him under torture. Replying to Art. IV., of the accusations
against him he alleged, (i) that it was common report in the city that,
during Cortes's absence, the reduced garrison would be crushed; (2) on
the morning of the festival he had seen a large number of sharp pointed
sticks, with which the Mexicans openly boasted they would kill him
and his men; (3) the admission of the captive victim, which was con-
firmed by a native of Texcoco; (4) that a skirmish had already taken
place in the palace, in which he himself was wounded, and one Span-
iard was killed, and that all would have shared the same fate. Torque-
mada adds the detail that huge cauldrons were prepared in which to
cook the Spaniards. Las Casas advances the theory usual with him,
that Alvarado wished to strike such a blow as would terrorise the
Indians. Herrera admits that a revolt may have been brewing, but
deprecates the wholesale massacre and the taking of jewels from the
dead bodies. Clavigero scouts the idea of a conspiracy, and affirms
that this was an invention to shield Alvarado. Oviedo, Sahagun,
and Fr. Duran, all exempt the Indians of rebellious intentions. Setting
aside the weighty unanimity of these authorities on the question of the
alleged conspiracy, Alvarado's conduct would still be without justifica-
tion, even had there been an intention to attack him, for his proper
course would have been to collect all the Spaniards and Tlascalans in his
quarters, with sufficient provisions, hold Montezuma and the court
nobles as hostages, notify Cortes by messenger, and stand strictly on
the defensive until help or instructions came. The situation cannot be
properly paralleled with that of Cortes in Cholula, for the conditions
were entirely different. Alvarado was the most violent of all the
Spanish captains, and his brutality culminated in this inhuman mas-
sacre, which drove the long suffering Mexicans to desperation; it
destroyed the last illusion about the celestial origin and character of the
white men, and brought on the tragedy of the Sorrowful Night, and
the siege, with its long train of misery and destruction. From that day
forward, the Mexicans were deaf to all overtures from the Spaniards;
regardless of suffering, and indifferent to death, they sought only
vengeance.

APPENDIX VII.

DEATH OF MONTEZUMA

Montezuma's assurance to the people that he was not held a prisoner,
but lived with the Spaniards from choice, free to come and go at his
pleasure, was so contrary to obvious facts, and his reproof to them
for taking arms, as though they had been the aggressors, was so unjust,
that he failed to secure the cessation of hostilities. On the contrary,
he had hardly finished speaking when the young prince Quauhtemotzin,
who was one of the leaders of the people, reviled him as a coward and
the effeminate tool of the Spaniards, declaring that his subjects re-
nounced obedience to one who had so degraded his royal dignity.
With that he hurled a stone, and, in the volley of missiles which fol-
lowed, one struck the Emperor on the head {Codex Ramirez in
Orozco y Berra, tom. iv., cap. x. ; Acosta, Hist. Nat. y. Moral de las
Indias, lib. vii., cap. xxvi.). Clavigero refuses to believe that Quauhte-
motzin so insulted his royal uncle, but offers no reason for his disbelief.
The Spaniards, who had been charged to protect Monteztmia's person
with their shields, were not quick enough, and it is said he was also
wounded by arrows in the arm and in the leg. The wounds were not,
however, serious, but the unfortunate monarch was evidently deter-
mined not to survive this supreme humiliation, and, refusing to allow
his hurts to be properly dressed, he remained without food in a pro-
foundly dejected condition. Herrera describes Cortes as showing the
greatest concern, solicitously visiting the Emperor to comfort him,
but it seems little likely that in the midst of his perilous occupations
the commander found time to condole with his wounded captive, for
Montezuma's tardy eflEorts for peace had failed completely, and, though
Prescott says that the Aztecs "shocked at their own sacrilegious
act. . .dispersed, panic-struck in different directions ... so that not
one of the multitudinous array remained in the great square," there
seems to be no authority for believing that any such dramatic revulsion
of feeling took place. Montezuma had fallen from his royalty and his
high priesthood, to be a thing of scorn and loathing to his people,
while his influence on the course of events was less than nil.

Montezuma Xocoyotzin ninth king of Mexico died on June 30, 1520,
in the fifty-fourth year of his age, the eighteenth of his reign, and in
the seventh month of his captivity.

His death was attributed, by the Spaniards, to the wound caused

351

352 Letters of Cortes

by the stone, which struck him on the head; by the Mexicans, it was
on the contrary, asserted that he was put to death by Cortes. The
Codex Ramirez, before quoted from the work of Orozco y Berra, states
that Montezuma was found stabbed to death by the Spaniards, with
the other chiefs who shared his captivity. Acosta accepts this as
true, and Father Duran (cap. 76) says "They found him dead with
chains upon his feet, and five dagger wounds in his breast, and with him
manv other of the chiefs and lords who were prisoners." Amongst
the nobles were the kings of Tlacopan and Texcoco and the lord of
Tlatelolco. Cacamatzin, according to Ixtlilxochitl was stabbed forty-
five times, and he adds that Montezuma died from the wound in his
head, "although his vassals say that the Spaniards themselves killed
him, and plunged a sword into his fundament " (aptid, Orozco y
Berra, tom. iv., cap. x.). The murder of the other chiefs was deemed
necessary, as it was neither possible to be burdened with them in the
flight from the city, nor was it wise to release them. Their bodies were
thrown out of the Spanish quarters at a spot called Teayotl, because of a
stone turtle which stood there, in the hope that their fate might dis-
courage the people, and also give them occupation in preparing their
funerals as required by custom (Sahagun, lib. xii., cap. xxiii. ; Ixtlil-
xochitl, Hist. Chichitneca) . Cortes's account of the wounding and
death of Montezuma was naturally followed by Gomara; Oviedo also
copies his words, and says that he heard the same account viva voce
from Pedro de Alvarado; Herrera asserts that the emperor's wound
was not mortal (lib. x., cap. x.), but that he died because he refused
all attendance and food ; and Bernal Diaz, who relates the same story,
adds the affecting detail that Cortes and all the captains and soldiers
wept as though they had lost a father (Verdadera Hist., cap. cxxvi.),
which those may believe who can. Clavigero refers to the grief of the
Spaniards, as described by Bernal Diaz, and says that, in view of the
contradictory accounts, it seems impossible to know the truth adding,
" I cannot believe that the Spaniards would take the life of a king to
whom they owed so many benefits, and from whose death they would
derive only evil." He does not say why he cannot believe this;
Montezuma's influence was gone; another leader had been chosen by
the nation in the person of the brave Quauhtemotzin, and when Cortes
announced his death, offering to deliver his body for burial they cried
out: "We want Montezuma neither living nor dead !" (Herrera, lib.
x., cap. X.) Hence the fallen sovereign's presence was only an em-
barrassment to Cortes, who was planning to fight his way out of the city
with as few encumbrances as possible — even the precious gold was
being left behind. The moment the emperor became an obstacle, his
doom was sealed, and there was nothing in the character or conduct of
Cortes which warrants the belief that he was influenced by sentiments
of compassion for the king he had degraded, while his disposal of Caca-
matzin at that time, and of Quauhtamotzin later in Yucatan, revealed
the absence of any scruples whatever. Prescott joins Clavigero in his

Appendix VII. Second Letter 353

generous assumption, and with a fine outburst of indignation finds it
"hardly necessary to comment on the absurdity of this monstrous im-
putation." Such sentiments do credit to the magnanimity of these
writers, for it is manifestly the nobler part to admit such a charge
against Cortes, only when forced by irrefutable proofs, which in this
case are not forthcoming. Orozco y. Berra, the results of whose ex-
haustive researches are expressed in calm, judicial language in his
Conquista de Mexico, adopts the Indian version. Clavigero has
perhaps said the most that generous impartiality will allow, when
he states that "There reigns such variety among historians that it
seems impossible to verify the truth." Torquemada (lib. iv., cap.
Ixx.) records that Montezuma's body was taken to Copalco where
it was cremated, according to the Aztec usage, though the solem-
nity was marred by the insults heaped by some of the by-standers
upon the hapless corpse. Herrera was of the opinion, that the body
was buried at Chapultepec, because the Spaniards heard great la-
mentations in that quarter, and because that was the place of royal
sepulture, but the observation of Clavigero on this opinion, that there
was no fixed place for burying the sovereigns and that Chapultepec,
being some three miles distant from the Spanish quarters it was hardly
likely they could have heard lamentations, seems to weaken this
assumption.

Diego Munoz Camargo, the Tlascallan historian, would seem to be
the chief authority for the pious legend that Montezuma was baptised
by his own desire just before he died, and that Cortes and Pedro de
Alvarado were his godfathers. Gomara asserts that the Emperor had
expressed his wish to become a Christian prior to Cortes's departure
from Mexico to meet Narvaez, but that the ceremony was deferred
until Easter so that it might be celebrated with more solemnity, and
was afterwards forgotten amid the confusion of the changed circum-
stances. The silence of Cortes on a matter he would have been eager
to report in his letters, seems alone sufficient to dispose of the assertion,
and Torquemada, who would also have not been slow to enroll a royal
convert, does not admit the story (Monarchia Indiana, lib. iv., cap.
Ixx.). A most instructive dissertation on this subject is contained
in an interesting study by Don Jos^ Fernando Ramirez entitled
Bautismo de Motecuhzoma II., Noveno Rey de Mexico.

A pathetic figure is that of this Aztec king, gifted with some of the
highest qualities of his race, venerated during a long and prosperous
reign almost as a demi-god, only to be humbled to the very dust. The
starting point of his downfall was his superstition, for had he listened to
his generals rather than to his priests Cortes and his handful of
adventurers would never have left the sea-coast alive. The misfortunes
and humiliations of the last months of his life seem to have completely
changed his character, so that from the time of his docile abdication
at the bidding of Cortes, to the infamy of his appearance on the walls
of the Spanish quarters to rebuke his long-suffering people, was but a

354 Letters of Cortes

step on the way to the nameless grave where his dishonoured form
was finally laitl. •

Prescott's description of the scenes of Montezuma's death-bed, with
Cortes present to whom he confided his daughters, is based upon
Cortes's own narration made in the grant afterwards cpnceded to one
of the daughters, Dona Isabel, when she married Alonzo Grado, who is
described in the same document as an hidalgo of Alcantara (Prescott,
lib. iv., cap. ii.)

It is to Cortes's credit that he recognised the debt of the Spanish
crown to Montezuma, and that he procured the royal protection for his
children.

END OF VOLUME I.

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